Diamond in the Rough
by TheFifthCharmedOne
Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great." T for safety. Might go up.
1. Not A Time For Jokes

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

* * *

Chapter 1: Not A Time for Jokes

"The Great Pyramid of Giza is known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and is believed to be the tomb for a pharaoh that lived in the second or third century..."

"Remind me again why we're here, Forge?" Fred Weasley yawned loudly, causing their tour guide to glare. His twin brother and partner in crime shifted his weight and rolled his shoulders before answering. He seemed stiff from walking and boredom, which made sense, as they had been on this tour for over two hours.

"Business." George replied, not sounding too thrilled about it. "The more we know about Egypt and its history, the better we can develop the Egyptian Escapades line."

"None of the other lines had such a boring tour guide though. Remember the bird from Italy? She was hot."

"True." George agreed.

"Here, we have the mysterious Stone of Tempus, which is said to have magical properties. Of course, this is just a myth, but it has astounded archaeologists for centuries..." It didn't help that all of the tours were done with and by Muggles. Fred perked up. He loved a good mystery.

He and George hung back from the group a little bit to observe the mysterious jewel. No bigger than Fred's fist, the jewel was a deep crimson color, and a white, ethereal light shined from inside of it. It was protected by a glass display case, but Fred and George knew their ways around that. "Don't touch that!" The tour guide scolded, reminding Fred of his older brother Percy.

"This bloke is really starting to get on my nerves." George grumbled to his brother out of the corner of his mouth.

"Agreed." Fred replied. "What do you say we ruffle his feathers a bit?"

"I like the idea already." George grinned.

* * *

"AND STAY OUT!" Fred and George were rather unceremoniously thrown out of the museum they had been touring.

The twins stood and dusted themselves off, grinning like madmen.

"Home, then?" George asked, seemingly satisfied with the mischief they had managed.

"Home." Fred agreed. With that, the twins ducked behind a nearby building, and the only sound you heard was the distinct _pop!_ of Apparition.

Little did George know, Fred had taken more than information from their tour.

* * *

Hermione Granger, over the course of her life, specifically her time at Hogwarts, had become rather accustomed to surprises. Being associated with magic folk will do that, especially when those magic folk and Fred and George Weasley.

"Hermione!" Fred's voice carried through the room, and then he appeared directly in front of her, making her drop her tea in surprise.

"Fred! Look what you've made me do!" she complained. Taking out her wand, she fixed the mug and cleaned up the mess, but despite the easiness of the action, she continued to glare at Fred.

"I've got something to show you!" Fred sounded very excited about something. Eyebrow arched, she looked at him contemptuously. "It was just a cup of tea, relax." he muttered. She pursed her lips. "_Anyway_," Fred looked both ways, as though he had some huge secret. "I'm going to show you something that not even George knows about."

Hermione watched him expectantly, and he reached inside his jacket to reveal the Stone of Tempus.

"What is _that_?" Hermione asked, unsure whether to be struck by its beauty or mystified by its past, a past that the bookworm in her itched to investigate.

"A stone that George and I found while touring Egypt." Fred grinned. "Impressed?"

"You found this? Are you sure you didn't steal it?" Hermione eyed him suspiciously.

"Positive. I acquired it. Completely different." He nodded, still grinning. Hermione cast him a glance and then looked back at the stone.

"I wonder what it does." she said curiously. She reached her hand up. It was as if everything slowed down, but when she finally touched the cool surface, some peculiar things began to happen.

First, the stone began to warm, the light in the middle becoming brighter to the point of nearly being blinding. Once she had put her hand on it, Hermione found herself unable to take it back. The white light expanded from inside the stone to envelop them both in a strange, disillusioning vortex.

Hermione wanted to scream, but she found that she couldn't move her lips. Some gravitational force kept her from speaking, let alone screaming, and it felt as though the rest of her body was in a Full-Body Bind. She cast a panicked look at Fred, who was along for the ride, but found he couldn't speak or move either. They were floating in a strange sort of tunnel.

_Are we moving backwards, or forwards? _Hermione thought, darting her eyes around, as she couldn't move her head. Her body was being pulled _somewhere_, that much was clear.

Suddenly, they were dropped in the middle of what seemed to be a field. Hermione quickly recognized it to be the grounds of Hogwarts, which sent her mind reeling right away. They had been in her flat before, not Hogwarts.

"What in the world...?" Hermione muttered, getting her bearings and looking for Fred. The Weasley twin had stood where she was lying on her stomach. He was shielding his eyes from the sun, and looking toward the castle. "Fred, what exactly was that stone?" She asked him.

"Well, we..._acquired _it on a tour of Egypt. Our tour guide was exceptionally boring, though, so we didn't catch what the stone was. All he said was the stone of tempus, or something like that."

"Tempus? You're sure?" Hermione searched her brain for the English translation of the Latin word. Before Hogwarts, she had attended a prestigious Muggle primary school, and it was one of the few who didn't view Latin as a dead language. "Tempus...tempus means time! It's the Stone of Time!"

Fred's eyes went wide. "Do you realize what this means?"

"Not entirely." Fred said uncomfortably.

"We've been sent back in time." Hermione explained, blinking to try and comprehend what was coming out of her mouth. "Bloody hell!" she swore, surprising Fred.

"Didn'tknow you had it in you!" the prankster congratulated. Hermione stood and smacked him on the shoulder.

"Now is not the time for jokes, Fred Weasley!"

"It's always a good time for jokes." Fred argued. Hermione rolled her eyes. They were quiet for a few moments.

"I guess the first thing to do is figure out where we are."

"We're at Hogwarts." Fred said.

"Well, obviously." she said, glaring at him. "I _meant_ what time period."

"Oh." Fred said intelligently. "Hey, look! There are some people coming. We should ask them!" He went off to do just that.

"Fred!" Hermione said exasperately. If asked what year it was, these people would probably think that he was mad. Of course he doesn't realize this. She went after him, her legs feeling strange after being locked in that strange time tunnel.

Where had the stone gone, anyway? Shouldn't they still be holding it? She didn't see it go anywhere on the ground when they landed. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen it since she first touched it. Perhaps it had gone back to wherever in Egypt Fred and George had found it? And how in the world were they supposed to get back to their own time, if her suspicions were proven true and they had gone back to the past.

"Hermione!" Fred barrelled toward her. "You'll never guess who I've just met!"

"Who?" Hermione asked, feeling tired and confused, but also curious. If Fred said some names she knew, maybe she could pinpoint what time period they were in.

"The Marauders!"

Hermione blinked. The Marauders? As in James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew?

_Oh sweet Merlin. We've been sent back to 1977._

* * *

A/N: Tadaa! In case you're wondering, this story idea was not originally mine. A fanfiction member sent me a private message last night and suggested it. I really love the idea of time travel, and I find it hard to believe that Time Turners were the only way it was possible in Harry's world. You'll find out why they've been sent to 1977 later on.

Thanks so much for the idea, **_nsheldonb!_** I'll be sure to write it as well as I can and give the awesome idea justice!

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, it was a lot of fun to write!

Please review!

-Charmy


	2. Questions To Be Asked

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

* * *

Chapter 2: Questions To Be Asked

"Name?"

"Fred Weasley."

"House?"

"Gryffindor."

"Year?"

"Erm...seventh." Fred faltered slightly - what year would they be in, in this time? He had no idea.

"Weird. I've never seen you in any of our classes before." Sirius sat back, crossing his arms over his chest thoughtfully.

"Hard to believe you've seen anything beside the inside of your eyelids, Padfoot." Remus teased. Sirius stuck out his tongue childishly.

The four of them had become fast friends - and Fred was trying his hardest not to ask the questions he really wanted to know. How had they made the Marauder's Map? Were there other secret passageways? How many detentions had each of them had?

Beside all that, Fred couldn't believe how different Remus and Sirius seemed to look when they were younger. In the future, Sirius's skin was sallow and malnourished, his eyes haunted by years in Azkaban. Remus's face was pale, as usual, and the scars were more obvious in the future. It seemed he tried to hide them in the past.

All this thinking about future and past was giving Fred a massive headache. If they were in the past, then what had happened to their present - or was it future - selves? Had they just disappeared?

Hermione had gone into the girl's dormitory when they all walked back to Gryffindor tower. The Fat Lady eyed Hermione and Fred suspiciously, and Hermione wondered if she knew they weren't in their right time.

She couldn't believe what - or _who _- she had found.

"Are you a new student?" Lily Evans asked with interest. "I've never seen you before."

"Erm, well...I suppose so." Hermione said nervously.

"You suppose?" Alice Stevens piped up from another bed - the bed that Ginny would inhabit, in twelve years or so.

"Well - yes. I am a new student. My name's Hermione Granger."

"Lily Evans, and that's Alice Stevens. Our other roomates, Emmeline Vance and Marlene McKinnon, should be back soon." The redhead beamed, and Hermione was struck by just how beautiful she was. And her eyes - they matched Harry's perfectly. Or, rather, Harry's matched hers, seeing as she had them first. "I'm Head Girl this year, so I don't sleep in this room. You can have my bed." Lily continued. She pointed to the bed nearest to the window. Which, ironically, was Hermione's bed in the future.

"Yeah, she shares a dormitory with James Potter," Alice said with a secret smile. Lily's face turned red.

"Shut up, Alice!" she hissed. Hermione smiled a bit - so they didn't hate each other at this point. Harry had told her a bit of their story, and she surmised that they were now Heads together, and that Lily might be changing her mind about the bullying toerag she thought he was. "To my great disappointment," Alice coughed loudly. "I do share a dormitory with the Head Boy, James Potter. He's the head of the Marauders. I'm sure you've heard of him.

"You could say that." Hermione said. "Erm, not to be rude, but I am really tired - you know, from the train ride and everything. Could I just lie down and we could talk at dinner?"

"Oh, of course - how silly of me. Sorry about that. Go right ahead. Alice, I'll be up in the Head dorm-"

"_Giving _head?" Alice giggled, and now Lily turned an even darker shade of red. She spluttered for a few seconds.

"James and I are only friends." The redhead said finally, her face still as red as her hair.

"So he's James now? Not Potter?" Alice asked with interest. Lily's eyes narrowed.

"He's my coworker. More than that, he's my co-Head. I'm going to call him by his first name."

"Just keep telling yourself that. Go on upstairs to your dormitory. I'll see you at dinner, love."

Hermione had made her way over to her bed and collapsed. She didn't hear what Lily said next, as she had already fallen asleep.

* * *

"Prongs! There you are!" Sirius greeted his best friend, James Potter. Fred glanced up. "We've got a new roommate!"

"Really?" James asked. "Who?"

"I'm Fred. Fred Weasley." The redhead said. He shook Harry's father's hand and managed to keep his cool in the process. A rather impressive feat - George would be so jealous when he found out that Fred had met not only James Potter, but Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew! Their inspirations! He'd have George doing his chores for a year!

"...Says he just got here, but wouldn't he have come on the train with the rest of us?" Sirius was saying, and his voice interrupted Fred's thoughts.

"I missed the first train. Had to owl Dumbledore." He lied easily.

"Makes sense, I suppose." Remus nodded. Fred nearly sighed in relief. "But how have we not seen you until now?"

"I keep to myself, usually." Fred answered, the lie almost laughable. The day Fred Weasley kept to himself was the day Hermione Granger got a detention.

Speaking of Hermione, rather, thinking of her, Fred wondered where she had gone. He figured that she went to the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, but had she met anyone from this time period? Maybe Harry's mother, Lily? Wouldn't that be strange..

"He's a bit of a thinker. Kind of like Moony. But I like him, seems to have potential."

"Potential?" Fred asked, coming out of his thoughts to Sirius's voice yet again. James looked over at him.

"Fred, have you ever pranked anyone before?"

"Loads of times." He answered before he thought about it. He nearly slapped himself - how did pranking loads of times fit in with the not-noticed, not seen identity he was building? _Stupid!_

"Could be just what we need. Pete's been acting a bit flighty lately so we need another man to keep watch-"

"I'll do it." Fred said, losing a bit of his usual cool, which was replaced by eagerness. Oh, George would never complain about his chores not being done again!

* * *

"Are you _insane_?" Hermione demanded when Fred told her what he was going to do. "Have you lost all of your sense? We're supposed to be keeping a low profile, at least until we figure out what's going on. If you're caught, the low profile goes out the window!"

"If I'm caught, which I won't be, it'll just give us a time period to work with. Depending on what the Marauders are planning - they haven't and probably won't tell me - I'll get a detention from whoever catches us, and that could give us an opening."

"An opening for what?"

"To find the stone!" Fred said, as though it were obvious. "Something happened to it when we traveled back - we can use my possible detention as a cover."

"Okay..." Hermione hesitated, starting to see his logic. "But what if you don't get caught?"

"Then I win points with the Marauders - another important thing if we're going to blend in here."

"You really have thought this through, haven't you?" Hermione asked with a smile.

"Sure have." Fred replied. "Have you met Harry's mum?" he asked softly, so not to attract attention. Despite the fact that their whole conversation was taking place in the empty Gryffindor common room, anyone could come down and overhear them. That would have nasty consequences.

"Yes," Hermione told him. "She's lovely. I wish Harry could meet her. What about James?"

"He's great. Hilarious, and really friendly. Reminds me of Harry, when he's not being so modest and quiet."

"So, other than looks, he's nothing like his father?" Hermione asked with a chuckle.

"Nope." Fred said, popping the p. He yawned, and looked at his wristwatch. "We should probably go to sleep - after midnight now."

"You're right." Hermione agreed. They both stood and walked toward their dormitories. "Night, Fred."

"Night, Hermione."

* * *

The next morning, Hermione discovered that she would be following Lily's schedule, almost exactly. Fred informed her that he was in all of his classes with the Marauders, which he was obviously very thrilled about.

Hermione was struck, again, by how young everyone seemed. Of course, this was twenty years in the past, so she should have expected it, but seeing Professor Flitwick without his massive beard was just ridiculous.

"Hey, Hermione!" Hermione turned, and saw Lily, Alice, and two other girls walking up to her. "I wanted to introduce you to Emmeline and Marlene. You didn't get to see them, since you fell asleep."

"I'm Emmeline!" The brown haired girl said happily. "You can call me Em or Emmy if you want, I don't really care. That's Marlene - she's in a bad mood since Sirius Black-"

"Don't say his name if you want to live, Emmy!" Marlene growled. Then she smiled at Hermione, her mood switching at the blink of an eye. "I'm Marlene McKinnon, nice to meet you."

"Hermione Granger." Hermione said, feeling a tad overwhelmed. "Don't we need to get to Defense?"

"You and Lily do. Alice, Marlene, and I have break." Emmeline informed her brightly. "Might want to get on that, Professor Thomas doesn't take kindly to lateness. Though he does favor Lily. Like most professors..."

"See you later, girls." Lily interrupted Emmeline's ramble. She took Hermione's arm and pulled her away.

"Nice to meet you!" Hermione said quickly as Lily pulled her toward the staircase.

"Emmy's a liar. Professor Thomas doesn't favor me." Lily said as they climbed the stairs. "Oh, James!"

For the first time, Hermione saw Harry's father. He was walking with Sirius and Fred, toward the Great Hall. Fred winked at her, and she gave him a small, knowing smile. James had Harry's unruly hair, and a similar build. James had a bit more substance, probably from Quidditch, but overall he and Harry could be twins.

"Hey, Lily." James greeted with a swoon-worthy smile. "On your way to Defense, then?"

"Yeah, didn't you just have it?"

"Yeah. Sirius slept, Fred got Gryffindor some house points, and I was my usual brilliant self."

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Which means you sat there and did nothing. Who's Fred?"

"That'd be me." Fred introduced himself. "Fred Weasley, at your service."

"You're adding new Marauders, James?" Lily asked with a laugh, shaking Fred's hand. Hermione had no doubt that the thought had crossed Fred's mind, but she hoped he wouldn't let his ambitions override his sense.

"Perish the thought, Evans!" Sirius proclaimed. "Fred's just going to help us with a bit of pranking later."

"James!" Lily scolded. "That does not set a good example for the younger students-!"

"James isn't involved, Evans." Sirius cut her off, not sounding too happy about the idea. "That's why Fred's helping out."

"What about Peter?"

"Dunno where he is."

"So you'd replace him that quickly?"

"Not replace. Just borrow."

Lily opened her mouth to reply, but the late bell clanged loudly, and all the color drained from her face.

"Hermione, we need to go!" She grabbed Hermione's arm again and they were off to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

* * *

Professor Alan Thomas was a tall, athletically built man of his middle thirties. Hermione assumed he stopped working sometime before she and her friends would come to Hogwarts.

"Miss Evans, five points from Gryffindor for lateness." he said sharply, and Lily hung her head. "Same for you, Miss." He noticed her Gryffindor tie. In the first two minutes of class, they had already lost ten points for their house.

Today's class would be on Disarming Charms, something that Hermione had already learned. Lily took rapid notes - Hermione supposed she should too, to keep up their facade, but as she had already learned this, she didn't feel the need too.

Instead, she focused on the questions that needed to be asked.

Why had the Stone sent them back to the time of Harry's parents? How were they supposed to get back to their own time? What if they changed an important event and the future they eventually went to was completely different?

"For homework, I want a twelve inch essay on the history and uses of the Disarming Charm." Professor Thomas said. "Class dismissed."

Lily and Hermione now had a break before Herbology. They went over to the library - Lily wanted to get a head start on her homework, and Hermione wanted to research the Stone of Tempus.

"So, Hermione." Lily began. "Do you know Fred?"

"Yes. We're good friends." Hermione said, not looking up from her book. She didn't see the sneaky smile that Lily had on her face.

"Just friends?"

"Of course."

"Really?"

"Really." Hermione finally looked up. "Why are you smiling like that?"

"Because it's obvious he likes you." she grinned. "I saw the wink."

"Oh, he always does that." Hermione dismissed, though the thought of Fred liking her made butterflies dance in her stomach. "He's a player - don't think anything of it." She was saying that to both Lily and herself, hoping to quell the strange fluttering.

"If you say so. You obviously know him better than I do." The way she said it made Hermione's face turn a light shade of pink.

"W-Well, what about you and James? You might not have met me before now, but I've watched your entire relationship unfold-" _Read about, heard things from Harry, same difference. _

"Relationship?" Lily scoffed. "More like rivalry."

"Fine - rivalry. He clearly wants to go out with you, so why do you keep saying no?"

"Because that's just it. He only wants to go out with me. Nothing more. He just wants me because I'm the only one who ever said no. Forgive the cliché, but I want someone who will love me for longer than five minutes."

"How do you know he won't if you don't give him a chance?" Hermione asked, closing the book she had been reading. She stood and went to find another, while Lily fell into a thoughtful silence.

-X-X-X-

"Are we good, Fred?" Sirius whispered, and Fred made a thumb's up sign. Sirius and Remus then waved their wands at the toilets. An explosion of ceramic and water followed, and then Fred was being pushed in the opposite direction.

"That was brilliant. An old classic." Sirius grinned, still laughing. "Still can't believe you agreed to go with me, Moony."

Remus couldn't reply, he was too busy laughing. When he had stopped, he grinned.

"I had forgotten how fun that is." he answered. "Doesn't mean I'll do it again though." He said to Sirius's unasked question.

"Ruddy prat, abandoning me." Sirius muttered.

"Maybe if you didn't prank people, you would actually study for the N.E.W.T.s, since you only got three O.W.L.s."

"Oh ye of little faith, Moony!" Sirius cried, sounding pained. Remus and Sirius's exchanges reminded him a bit of George. He and his twin did have a tendency to argue, but usually it was all in good fun. With a pang, he realized that he missed his twin. He wondered if he or any of his other family members had noticed he and Hermione had suddenly disappeared...

* * *

"Ginny!" George called out, seeing his sister in the living room of the Burrow. "Have you seen Fred?"

"He's your twin, not mine." Ginny said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I haven't seen him, or Hermione, since yesterday."

"Really?" Ginny asked, trying to remember if she had seen her older brother or Hermione at dinner. "And he's not at the shop?"

"Or at the flat." George confirmed. "Where the hell did he go?" He sounded really worried. "We just got back from Egypt, we should be working on our new line of products."

"Egypt?" Ginny questioned.

"You clearly don't pay attention too well, sister dear. Forge and I have been planning to go to Egypt for months. Is your little head to full of the Chosen One to listen at dinner conversations?"

"Shut up." Ginny told him with a small blush. "Even so, where could he have gone?"

* * *

A/N: So, you can see that there are many questions, most without answers. Don't worry, they'll be answered soon enough. :D

Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, please, please review! I see a bunch of favoriting and alerting, but little reviewing! :( Please let me know what you think!

Sorry, I'm groveling. But I am really out of my element with this story and I'd love to know what everyone thinks.

Okay, I'm done.

-Charmy


	3. Of Stone Legends and Nosy Birds

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

-X-X-X-

Chapter 3: Of Stone Legends and Nosy Birds

"Fred!" Hermione called, nearly tripping as she climbed through the Gryffindor portrait hole in her excitement. "Come here!"

"Oi, I'm not a dog that comes when his owner calls!" But he came nonetheless, helping her stand properly. A warm shock shot up Hermione's arm, but she was too excited to care.

"I've found it! The legend of the Stone!" she said, though she kept her voice down for the sake of secrecy.

"Well, don't just stand there! Tell me!" Fred exclaimed. Hermione flipped to the page in the rather large book she was carrying and pointed to the small part about the Stone of Tempus.

_The Stone of Tempus originated in Egypt, around the second century. It is said to be extremely powerful, so much so that it can send any two people who touch it back in time. It has been called many names, though the Stone of Tempus is the most common. Another name is the Stone of Lust, as it has a passionate red color and has a knack for sending its chosen two back to a pair with similar destinies..._

Hermione and Fred shared a look.

"Must be a fluke." Fred said awkwardly Hermione's stomach did a strange flip at the dismissal in his voice.

"Keep reading." she said, avoiding his eyes.

_However, there is a way to return to the pair's original time. They must find the Stone of Reddo, or the Stone of Return. It is similar to the Stone of Tempus, however, it is a dark blue color and is usually found where one least expects it. It also cloaks itself until the mission set by the Stone of Tempus can be completed. _

"A lot of help that'll do." Fred grumbled, annoyed. "Where do we least expect to find it?"

"I'm not sure. But at least we know what we're doing now. Sort of." She was still avoiding his eyes. Her stomach lurched uncomfortably, but she reminded herself that she hadn't eaten in a few hours, which was why she felt so strange. Not because of Fred. Most definitely not.

"I guess. Maybe going to the library isn't so bad." Fred grinned, trying to ease the tension that had appeared between them. He could see it too, he wasn't blind, after all.

"I've only been telling you that for years." Hermione said snobbishly with an overdramatic roll of her eyes.

"Oi, Fred! Quit your flirting and come over here!" Sirius called obnoxiously.

"What is it with people and calling me like a dog?" Fred muttered, though he was smiling, so Hermione knew he was kidding. "I'll talk to you later." He winked, and Hermione tried not to smile.

"He definitely likes you." Lily sidled up next to Hermione, and Hermione shook her head.

"I told you before, Lily! He's a player, it's what he does."

"Then why are you blushing?"

Hermione noticed with a start that she was indeed blushing. Her face felt particularly warm to the touch, and her stomach was still doing that annoying fluttering business.

"I need to eat. Would you come down to the Great Hall with me?" She requested. Lily nodded, eager to get more information from her about the supposed feelings she had for Fred.

_There's no way. Simply no way. The Stone was wrong - and who are we similar too, anyway, even if it was right, which it definitely wasn't..._

"What's your favorite book?" Lily asked suddenly, seemingly trying to start up a conversation.

"Pride and Prejudice." Hermione knew Lily was Muggle-born, so she didn't need to explain who had written it.

"That's mine too!" Lily squealed. "Don't you think Darcy was just amazing?"

"Yeah," Hermione said distractedly. She was still caught up in her thoughts about Fred. She also worried about finding the Stone of Reddo - where did they least expect it to be?

* * *

Meanwhile, Fred sat with the Marauders, and they all played a rather competitive game of Exploding Snap. Peter had joined the group, and Fred remembered that he was the one to betray Lily and James to Voldemort. His fists clenched tightly - what kind of friend was he, to betray those who trusted him?

"Hey, Fred? You okay mate? You look pale." James said to him, noticing his change in demeanor.

"Fine. Just worried about the Transfiguration homework, is all." Fred lied.

"I'm not." Sirius proclaimed. "I can get Marlie to help me." He grinned as he noticed the girl he was speaking of coming down the stairs. "Marlie!" He called.

Marlene, who had been animatedly talking to Alice, turned to the nickname and instantly regretted it. Her mouth turned into a sneer and her eyes skewered Sirius with a deathly glare. Fred was glad he wasn't on the receiving end of that. _Though, Hermione does have a really mean glare. She's also really hot when she's angry...wait, what the hell? Where did those thoughts come from? _

He shook his head, not realizing that James had been talking to him.

"Sorry, what?" Fred asked, feeling bewildered. It was true that he'd fancied Hermione during her fifth year, but he thought he'd gotten over it. _Obviously not, you idiot. _He berated himself.

"I said, do you think you could get Hermione to talk to Lily? Get her to give me a chance?" James looked down at his lap, and then looked back at him hopefully.

"I guess." Fred said, uncomfortable. He was sure Hermione would say that he shouldn't get involved, and he almost agreed, except for the fact that James had a very sad, vulnerable look on his face. Despite everything, Fred's brotherly instincts, and his Weasley instinct to help anyone who needed it, won out.

"Great!" James said with a grin, his hazel eyes lighting up. "You're a good friend, Fred."

Fred smiled weakly.

* * *

"You shouldn't get involved." Hermione told him, just like he thought.

"I can't back out, though. Please, just talk to her for him? So I can say that I did ask you?" Fred said pleadingly. Perhaps it was her new and confusing (possible) feelings for him, but Hermione caved and sighed heavily.

"Fine, but I can already tell you what she's going to say."

* * *

Later that night, Lily, Hermione, Marlene, Alice, and Emmeline were all sitting together in their dormitory. Hermione relayed the message from James.

"Give him a chance?" Lily said, a disbelieving look on her face. "And he asked you to say that himself?"

"Well, he asked Fred to ask me, but that's not the point. You never did answer my question why you _won't_ give him a chance." Hermione reminded her, and Lily blinked, taking that in.

"That...erm, well that's..." Lily floundered, suddenly embarrassed. "He's...who said I liked him anyway?"

"Oh, please!" Marlene cried from her bed, looking up from her homework irritably. "Don't give me that, Lils. You obviously like him - you have good taste, by the way - so why don't you give him a chance?"

"Because he's no good! He's trouble!" Lily exclaimed. Marlene raised an eyebrow.

"He's been my friend since we were in diapers. You're not going to tell me something about him that I don't know." She said slowly, putting down her quill. "Yes, he is a troublemaker, he is mischevious, he's had more detentions than anyone I've ever met-"

"Exactly!" Lily cried triumphantly.

"_But_," Marlene looked annoyed at being interrupted. "He has changed a _lot _since we were fifteen Lily. You can blame him all you want for the end of your friendship with Snape, but let's face it. That had been falling apart for years. James just helped it along. He's a good guy, Lils. A great friend, a brave wizard, and, hell, you've never heard me praise anyone like I praise him. That's because I know him better than anyone else. I know that you two are great for each other."

"How...how can you know?" Lily asked quietly, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

Marlene stood and walked over to her friend.

"I know him just as well as I know you. You may not have similar interests or ideas about things, but opposites attract. You could be great together, if you would stop being so afraid of him. I promise you, he used to be afraid of the dark just like you." Lily giggled a bit, and Marlene smiled. "I'm not saying you have to run to the Head dorm and tell him that you burn for him with every fiber of your being, but I am telling you that if you let him pass you by, anyone else you date or eventually marry will pale in comparison."

Lily swallowed hard and took a deep breath.

"It might take me a while." Lily warned. "To get used to the idea that James might like me, literally like me, not as a conquest. Please don't tease me around him, though."

"Can't make any promises." Alice smirked, and Emmy followed suit. Marlene went back to her homework.

"You two are brats." Lily informed them.

"But you love us!" Emmy and Alice sang, and Lily rolled her eyes.

"Ignore them." Hermione said, "I'll keep them from teasing you." Lily gave her a small smile.

They were quiet for a few minutes, and Hermione let her thoughts drift.

She thought about how her stomach had been fluttering when she talked to Fred earlier, and the strange electric feeling that went up her arm when they touched. Could she like Fred? Like that? She supposed that it was possible. He was attractive, smart, and really funny. Though he did have a tendency to get on her very last nerve, she did care about him.

"Hermione?" The brunette jumped, startled, and turned to face Alice. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, just thinking."

"About what?" Emmeline piped up. "Fred Weasley?"

"W-Why would I be thinking about him?" Hermione asked, wondering if Emmeline was a Legilimens.

"Because he's the boy you obviously fancy." Lily grinned. Hermione's face turned Gryffindor red. _Or Weasley red..._

"I don't fancy him." She said stubbornly.

"Please. And Sirius Black will have O's on his N.E.W.T.s." Marlene said sarcastically.

"Well, you have a thing for Sirius!" Hermione said desperately. Marlene's gaze darkened, and Hermione knew she had said the wrong thing.

"I do _not_ have a 'thing' for Sirius Black." Marlene growled. "All I feel for that boy is pure loathing. I only put up with him because of James. He insists that I fancy him, like you lot seem to have deluded yourselves into thinking, but I don't. Sirius is as repulsive as a flobberworm, and his personality is even worse."

Hermione quickly realized that angering Marlene was a very bad idea.

* * *

Two more days passed, and Hermione and Fred still had no luck trying to figure out where the Stone of Reddo was. Fred was really starting to miss George, as he informed Hermione at one of their many late night conversations.

"It's weird not having him around, you know? To finish my sentences and everything." Fred sounded very lonely and Hermione wanted nothing more than to comfort him. Though, she had never had a twin, so she had no idea how to help him.

"You have the Marauders, though." she said cautiously, not sure if it was the right thing to say.

"True. But they're not George. They're not my twin brother." He shook himself. "So, do we have any idea where the Stone of Reddo is?"

"No." Hermione replied, frustrated. "Except for telling us about the Stone of Reddo, the library has been basically useless." Fred could tell it pained Hermione to admit it. "And, well, without a lead, we're stuck."

"Can't be as easy as the Room of Requirement, can it?" Fred asked. Hermione shook her head, and Fred sighed. "I thought not."

"See, Marlie! I told you!" Emmeline's voice whispered from the stairwell. Both Fred and Hermione turned to look. It was dark, but the voices were unmistakable.

"Shut it, Emmy! They'll hear you!"

Fred and Hermione shared a look.

"I think we have some eavesdroppers." Fred told Hermione in a whisper, stating the obvious.

"It would appear so." "_Go along with it._" She mouthed, and Fred nodded. "So, I think I'll bid you good night."

"Without a kiss? That's cold, 'Mione." Fred winked, and Hermione tried to ignore the way her heart kickstarted. Just like that, he'd gotten the upper hand.

"You wish, Weasley." She replied quick enough.

"You're right, I do." Fred grinned. Hermione knew it was all for fun, but she couldn't help feeling happy at the prospect of being in his thoughts.

"Well, keep dreaming." Hermione told him. Then he surprised her, and indirectly himself, by grandly kneeling before her and kissing her hand.

"Until we meet again, fair lady of the rubber ducky pajamas." His grinned widened, and Hermione fought off both a blush and a strong desire to smack him upside the head. She had borrowed pajamas from Lily, and, unfortunately, they were a sky blue with, you guessed it, rubber duckies all over them.

Hermione walked away, her hand still tingling.

"Forget fancying, he's in love with you." Marlene said as she passed, and Hermione tripped up the stairs.

"Shut it. Nosy birds." She said to them distractedly.

What had _that _been all about?

* * *

A/N: I know things are moving rather quickly, but trust me, it'll slow down once the boys do something stupid. Which they will. Because they're _boys_. -sigh-

Anyway, please review! They keep me going! :D

-Charmy


	4. Quidditch Distractions

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

-X-X-X-

Chapter 4: Quidditch Distractions

"JAMES!" Sirius howled, running up the steps of the Gryffindor boy's dormitory. Fred, Remus, James and Peter looked at each other. "James, we have a problem!"

"What's up, Padfoot?" James asked, putting his Transfiguration textbook aside.

"Henry Malcolm's injured. Hurt his arm in a fight with a Slytherin." Fred knew this was bad because the color drained from James's face.

"Who are we going to get to replace him?"

"Who's Henry Malcolm?" Fred asked.

"Gryffindor Quidditch team's second Beater, he plays alongside Sirius." Remus replied.

"We can't be one player short," Sirius moaned. "We can't! I know I'm a great and everything but I can't play without another Beater!"

"I can-" Fred started, but James spoke over him.

"I can always ask Edwards," he said thoughtfully. "He was my second choice after Malcolm for the Beater position..."

"Prongs, listen to yourself. Second choice? Do you really think he'll agree to playing when he's only temporary?" Sirius said, frustrated.

"True." James crossed his arms over his chest.

"James-" Fred said, straightening his back.

"How did he hurt himself in a fight with a Slytherin?" James suddenly asked.

"One insulted his mother or something." Sirius said dismissively. Considering he and his mother had mutual hatred for each other, Sirius wouldn't understand the insult. "He punched him and messed up his hand."

"A Beater is useless without his hand.." James said morosely.

"Sirius-" Fred tried to cut in again, standing up from James's former bed.

"And we face Slytherin on Saturday!" Sirius complained. "We can't lose to them - I'll never hear the end of it."

"We especially can't forfeit!" James said fiercely. "I don't want to see the look on Snivellus's face. I'd never live with the shame."

"GUYS!" Fred suddenly yelled, and all four boys turned to stare, as if they had forgotten he was there. "I can play Beater. I've been playing it for years." He almost mentioned his twin brother, but he stopped himself just in time.

"Really?" James's face lit up. "That'd be great, Fred!"

"I haven't practiced in a while," he admitted. And he hadn't with the store and everything. "...But I'm sure I can still play better with two working hands than someone with a messed up one!" He assured them.

James and Sirius exchanged a look.

"You'll have to do. Come to the Pitch tonight at 6, right after dinner. We'll see what you've got."

-X-X-X-

"Please don't yell at me," Fred began as he approached Hermione in the Gryffindor common room a while later. "But I'm playing Quidditch with the team this weekend." He braced himself for Hermione's lecture on not getting involved int the affairs of the past, but she said nothing. He took a chance and glanced at her.

"That's great." She told him. "It'll be a good way to earn their trust, seeing as we'll probably be here for a while."

"What do you mean?" he asked. "Still no luck with the Stone?"

"Nope." Hermione replied. "But even if we did find it, there's a catch."

"Another one?"

Hermione nodded. Fred groaned.

"You remember how the book said that it's also called the Stone of Lust?"

"Yeah," Fred coughed, averting his eyes. Hermione didn't notice this, her attention was on the book.

"Well, for the two Out-Placers - that's what the book calls us, as we're out of our place - we have to, well..." she blushed. "We have to prove that we've done what the stone sent us here to do."

"Which is...?" Fred asked, and Hermione's face turned even redder. She mumbled something, and Fred leaned closer to hear her. She turned her head as far away as possible. She felt herself becoming overwhelmed by his spicy scent. He needed to not wear cologne around her, it was quite distracting. "Hermiiiiooonnnnneeeee." he said impatiently, still unfairly close.

She licked her lips, her throat dry. She steeled herself and tried not to think about how much his proximity was affecting her. Because it wasn't. At all.

"We have to prove that we're in love." she finally blurted.

-X-X-X-

Remus Lupin believed himself to be a very smart young man. He got top marks in most of his classes and was usually able to make up for the week of the full moon.

However, for the life of him, he couldn't figure out where he recognized Hermione and Fred from. Every time he saw them, he had this strange sense that he'd met them somewhere before. It didn't seem to affect any of the other Marauders, they just accepted Hermione and Fred as they were, but Remus was still suspicious. Maybe it was his wolf, not willing to trust non-pack, but there was just something off about them, something that said 'we don't belong'.

He knew that if he mentioned his worries to the others that they would dismiss him and his paranoia. He wished he could, but the worry just wouldn't leave him alone.

He glanced at the clock and realized that it was almost time for dinner. He stood and stretched, his bones protesting the action. Wincing, he walked to the bathroom and smoothed his hair down. Perhaps he would talk to Emmeline about the Ancient Runes homework...

-X-X-X-

"It's been four days! Where the _hell _did they go?" George demanded, sounding very angry.

"I'm as clueless as you are!" Ginny told him. "Come on George. Retrace your steps - where was Fred the last time you saw him?"

Taking a deep breath, George thought. He remembered the prank they had pulled on the tour guide in Egypt - he grinned just thinking about the look on the bloke's face - and then they had Apparated back to London, and then to the Burrow. Fred had gone right to Hermione's flat, something about having something to show her.

His eyes widened in realization. Then he cursed colorfully, so badly that Ginny blinked rapidly, as though she had been stung.

"How is it possible that someone who shares my brain can be so stupid?" he asked finally. "He's gone and stolen the Stone of Tempus!"

"The...what?" Ginny asked, looking confused.

"An ancient Egyptian stone that we...procured from a museum in Cairo." George replied, choosing his words carefully.

"What is it?"

"Dunno. But I think it has something to do with time. Tempus is time in Latin, isn't it?"

"You're asking the wrong girl. Harry might know though."

"Oh sure, let's involve the Chosen One." George teased. Ginny blushed scarlet.

"I only said that because he might know a little Latin. You know, from his Muggle schooling." She said. George chuckled heartily.

"Fine, fine. We'll Floo to his apartment. Maybe you should go first. I don't want to see anything that might scar me." He winked, and Ginny's face turned and even darker shade of red. She punched him in the shoulder, and even though he pretended that it didn't hurt, he knew that there would most definitely be a bruise there later.

-X-X-X-

Meanwhile, Hermione and Fred were still perilously close to each other, and Hermione was panicking on the inside. She had no idea how she was supposed to tell him to back off without letting him know that he was having a dangerous effect on her.

"You two might want to get down to dinner." Remus coughed awkwardly. Fred sprang backwards as though he'd been shocked. "Before Sirius and James eat everything, that is."

"Right." Hermione closed the book she'd been reading and speedily walked away, trying to calm her racing heart. Fred almost called out to her, but then he realized it'd be pointless. He hadn't even known what he was doing, he was just following his instincts.

_My instincts told me to get so close that we nearly kissed? _His ears burned at the thought. _Bloody hormones. They ruin everything. _

He and Remus walked down to the Great Hall together in silence.

-X-X-X-

"Hermione, are you all right? You look like you've just seen a ghost!" Lily exclaimed as Hermione sat down at the Gryffindor table. Her face was flushed and she felt like she had just run a marathon.

"Or a Weasley," Emmy grinned. Hermione took a large gulp from a goblet of pumpkin juice to hide her face.

"Girls, stop it. Leave her be." Lily admonished. Hermione sent her a grateful glance.

"We want to hear the details later." Emmy informed her, but they let the subject drop.

Dinner was amazing, as usual, and soon enough, the boys were off to the Quidditch pitch to practice.

"We should go watch!" Emmy said excitedly. "It'd be really fun!"

Marlene eyed the windows and the approaching storm.

"You can go if you want, but I'm not up for getting drenched." She said. With that, she turned on her heel and left the Entrance Hall, headed up to Gryffindor Tower.

"Is it just me or has she been avoiding us lately?" Alice asked as the four girls walked out to the Pitch.

"I think she's avoiding Sirius." Hermione said. "Every time there's a chance that we'll see him, she goes in the opposite direction."

"I never thought of that." Lily admitted. "I guess it makes sense though, considering what happened between them..."

She shut up immediately after that, despite Emmy and Alice's curious questions and piercing gazes. Obviously, Marlene had asked Lily to keep it a secret, and like the good person and friend she was, she did.

"Come to watch, have you?" James asked, looking at Lily in particular. It was Emmeline who answered, though.

"Since Lily's years ahead in her homework and the rest of us are lousy procrastinators we thought that watching the Gryffindor team practice would be a good alternative to wasting time not writing our Defense essays."

She said this all very fast, but Hermione had caught most of it.

"I'm not years ahead, Emmy," Lily muttered. "I only finished it two days ago..."

"That's years." Emmeline replied. "Anyway," she looked at the boys, her eyes settling on Fred in a way that made Hermione vaguely uncomfortable. "Ready to show us what you've got?"

-X-X-X-

Hermione was reluctant to admit it, but Fred was extremely talented on a broomstick. In all the Quidditch matches she'd attended, she'd always been paying attention to Harry, as his playing Quidditch almost always had a near fatal accident in them. Now that she was looking at Fred, she could see that he was strong and deft with the Beater's bat and had sharp eyes for Bludgers.

"Why didn't you try out sooner, Fred?" James asked, sounding impressed as they walked away from the Pitch. Rain had just begun to drizzle, and instead of risking anything, James had decided to let the practice finish early. "You're brilliant on a broom."

"Please don't inflate his head any more." Hermione said. "The last thing he needs is to be arrogant on Saturday."

"Oh come on, 'Mione. You know me better than that by now, don't you? James is only stating the obvious." He put his arm around her shoulders. It was a friendly gesture, she knew that, but a million butterflies still flitted around in her stomach when his arm touched her back.

"You see what I mean?" Hermione asked James, who laughed.

It was a startling realization, but Hermione noticed that she had managed to blend in to a time that was twenty years prior to her own. She felt almost..._right_ here. She knew that it was only temporary, and that when she went back to her own time that Lily, James, Remus, Sirius, Marlene, and Emmeline would be dead and Alice will have lost her sanity because of Bellatrix Lestrange...

Fred must have noticed that she felt down, so he told the rest of the group to go on ahead. He stopped walking, and by extension, so did Hermione. The rain got slightly heavier.

"What's up?" She asked, wondering why he had stopped.

"You're feeling down about something. What is it?" The concern in his eyes made Hermione's toes curl as the butterflies zipped around in her belly. Hermione didn't waste brain power thinking about how he had known that something was wrong.

"I was just thinking about how sad it's going to be when we go back to our own time."

"Sad?" He was probably thinking about seeing George and his shop again. Hermione missed Harry and Ron, Ginny too, that was true, but she couldn't shake the rightness of this time period.

"Well, yeah. Almost every one of our friends here will be dead, insane, or missing."

The look on Fred's face told Hermione that he hadn't even considered this. She sighed.

"It's nothing." She said, taking a step forward. Fred's eyebrows furrowed - it was clearly something, and it clearly was important to Hermione.

"You can't dwell on that, you know." he said quietly.

"I know that." Hermione said. "But I feel so right in this time period...I almost don't want to find the Stone of Reddo."

"Why?"

"Because..." she stopped, suddenly feeling as though she had said too much. "Because I'm lonely in our time period, okay?" She said it as though it had been dying to come out. "Harry's always off with Ginny, Ron's off with his girlfriend, you and George are always at the shop, my job's in the toilet-"

"Whoa, wait a minute. Your job's in the toilet?"

"Yes!" she sounded close to tears. Thunder chose that moment to rumble across the sky.

"Then why don't you come work for George and I at the shop?" Fred said, a smile on his face. As soon as he said it, he knew it was the right thing. Hope shined in Hermione's tear encrusted eyes. "Once we sort out this whole mess, that is."

"Really?"

"Really." He smiled. "George loves you - like a sister, I mean."

A question about how Fred felt about her nearly came out of her mouth, but she stopped herself. He would probably say he felt the same way George did. That moment in the common room had meant nothing. Absolutely nothing.

_Right?_

-X-X-X-

"And he didn't kiss you?!" Emmy demanded, sounding very angry.

"Well, Remus interrupted..." Hermione said thoughtfully. Emmy slowly grinned. "Not that I wanted Fred to kiss me!" The Out-Placer cried as an afterthought, her face flushing. "I didn't! It was just weird, having him that close. He smelled really good, too." Hermione's face was a deep scarlet, and Emmy's smile wasn't helping. "Lily!" Hermione complained.

"Em, leave her be." Lily said from Hermione's bed. Emmeline and Hermione were sitting on the floor, Marlene was on her bed, and Alice was off with her boyfriend Frank Longbottom.

Emmeline ignored her.

"Come on, Hermione! He's a great catch!"

"He's my friend, though!" Hermione whined. "It'd be too weird!" _Not to mention the fact that I dated his brother, and said brother would probably never forgive me..._

"Remus is my friend, but he's usually got some place in my wet dreams."

"Emmy!" Hermione hissed, scandalized at how blunt she was being. Emmeline shrugged, not ashamed at all.

"Look, all I'm saying is that you've got to, you know, test the waters. See if he likes you."

"How do I do that?" Hermione asked, because despite herself, she was intrigued.

"Wear skimpier clothes for one thing - the only way he's going to notice you is if you act like a girl. And wear some makeup, it'll bring out your eyes-"

"Not happening." Hermione stated flatly. "He'll either like me for me, or he can take a hike."

"Sounds like someone else I know." Emmeline looked over at Lily. "You two are really alike."

"We are?" Hermione and Lily said together, sounding twinlike.

"Now that's just weird. Never do that again." Emmeline looked a little frightened. Lily and Hermione looked at each other and laughed.

-X-X-X-

A/N: Jeez, this story is just pouring out! It's so much fun to write the interactions with everyone! Also, the little bit with Remus was just for you nsheldonb! I promise to involve him more. :3

Hope everyone enjoyed, please review!

-Charmy


	5. Quidditch Qualms

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

* * *

Chapter 5: Quidditch Qualms

"You're sure you don't want to come?" Emmeline asked Hermione for what seemed like the billionth time. Saturday was upon them, and that meant that the Quidditch game which Fred would be guest-starring in would be happening in a few short hours.

Lily, Marlene, Alice, and Emmeline were all donning their Gryffindor colors. Shirts, ties, scarves, the works. Emmeline had even persuaded Lily to magic some golden streaks into her hair.

"I'm sure. I have a lot of homework I need to get done." Hermione said, a smile on her face. "Go have fun."

"But..." Emmeline looked like she wanted to argue, but Marlene stopped her.

"If she doesn't want to go, she doesn't have too." She stated plainly.

"Okay..." Emmy said uncertainly. "You know where to find us if you change your mind."

The four girls left, and Hermione breathed out a long sigh of relief. It was true that she had homework that needed finishing, but that wasn't the only reason she was avoiding the game.

Fred Weasley.

Over the course of a week, he had managed to both confuse and bewitch her. She had never considered having romantic feelings for the Weasley twin, but now it seemed more and more like a possibility. No, scratch that. A _probability. _

And that scared her.

If there was one thing that Hermione Granger feared, it was falling in love. She hated feeling as though she couldn't be herself, that she couldn't function when she was in the same room as some other person. She was a very independent girl, and to consider someone taking that away from her, even indirectly, was terrifying. That was part of the reason she had given up on her feelings for Ron. He felt more like a brother than a boyfriend, and she really couldn't see herself in a long-term, or short-term, romantic relationship with him. Not to mention, he'd been a right prat to her for most of their friendship, and she didn't feel that would change, had they gone any further than that kiss in the Chamber of Secrets. She and Ron would not, _could not_ happen.

Fred, on the other hand, was an entirely different story.

He...intoxicated her. Made her stomach do that strange fluttering, her heart pound, and her blood rush to her cheeks just by speaking to her. It was strange that she hadn't noticed this before they had been sent back in time, but she supposed that because she didn't have these feelings toward George, that his constant presence beside Fred dwarfed them to an extent.

Now that he was alone, it seemed as though the feelings were making up for lost time.

"Hermione?"

Startled, Hermione turned to face Fred, who was standing by her table, in his full Quidditch attire and broomstick over his shoulder. "You're not going to the game?"

"No," she said simply, not looking at him and choosing to look somewhere over his left shoulder. "I'm really behind on my homework."

"Aw, come on. Come out and watch us play!" He cajoled, coming closer to her. Warning bells went off in her head. "Please?" He pouted, and she could see that playful innocence in his soft blue eyes.

"No!" she said, more emphatically that time. Fred cocked his head adorably, and Hermione struggled to remember just what they were arguing about.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want too." She said firmly, as though daring him to argue. That was her first mistake - never dare Fred Weasley to do anything.

"Why?"

"I just told you."

"No you didn't. You said you didn't want to go to the game. You didn't say why you didn't want too." He said cheekily, and Hermione had to resist the urge to smack him.

"I have homework." She said, resorting to the classic excuse.

"It can wait." He put his broomstick down and advanced on her, and for a panicked moment she thought he was going to kiss her, but thankfully he just closed her textbook. "Now come on!"

"I said no, Fred!" She complained. "I'm not going!"

"Yet when I ask why, you avoid the question." He reminded her. She glared at him, which he ignored. "Come on. Please?" he said again. He took hold of her wrist, and that sent tingles up and down her arm, pooling like a bowl of soup in her stomach. He pulled her to feet, but before they could walk toward the portrait hole, Hermione slipped her wrist from his grasp.

"Why do you want me to go so badly?" She asked, eyes narrowed.

"I just do." He said, as though that were reason enough. Not for Hermione.

"Aha! Now who doesn't have an answer?" She said smugly. Fred pouted again.

"Pleaseee? You went to all of Harry's games!"

"Only because I always had to save his sorry arse!" Hermione finally cried in frustration. "Look, I just don't really feel like watching Quidditch today, okay?"

"No! Not until you give me a good reason!"

"Home-"

"That's not a good reason." Fred said with a roll of his eyes. "Wait a second." he paused, a slow smile come to his face. "I think I know the reason."

"Oh you do, do you?" Hermione asked.

"You're afraid." He crossed his arms over his chest, a little of his Weasley twin arrogance showing through.

"_Afraid? _Of _Quidditch_?" Hermione scoffed at the very idea.

"No. Of having fun." His eyes lit challengingly. He leered over her, using his height as an advantage.

"That's ridiculous." She stumbled, her back hitting the table.

"It's true though." He grinned, as though he'd won.

"It's not! It's preposterous, how is it possible to be afraid of having fun?" She asked, hands on her hips.

"I don't know, but I'm sure you'd find a way." Fred replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hermione demanded, slightly insulted. "I have fun!"

"I can count the number of times I've seen you smile on one hand!"

"That's only because you don't spend enough time with me!"

"Are you saying you want to spend time with me?" He raised an eyebrow. Hermione faltered.

After a pause, she spoke again. "W-Well, that's neither here nor there, so if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get back to my homework now." She spun on her heel and sat down, but as she was opening her textbook, Fred spoke.

"Oh no, we're not done yet." He closed the book again, leaning close. "You didn't answer my question."

Hermione sighed, taking a calculating breath before she spoke. She hated this - hated how he could get under her skin so easily. He thought it was all in good fun, she was sure, but it felt like so much more to her.

"It works both ways, you know. You could send me a letter, ask to see me, go to lunch or something. But no. I never hear from you, or George, and-"

"I never knew you wanted to be friends with us!" Fred exclaimed. "If I had known, then you'd be spending so much time with us, with _me_, that you'd be positively sick of it!"

_I doubt I'd get sick of you. _Hermione thought, but didn't speak.

"Fred!" Emmeline tumbled into the common room. "The match is about to start, you need to go!"

"Bloody hell!" Fred swore, and he took off out the portrait hole. "We're not done here," he said to Hermione as he left.

A few minutes passed.

"Is he gone?" Hermione asked, and Emmeline nodded. "Okay." She gathered her textbooks and shoved them into her bag. "I've changed my mind. Be back in five minutes, would you wait for me?"

"Of course. You're going to the game then?"

"Yes." Hermione said simply. She took off up the stairs.

_I'll show you, Fred Weasley. I can have fun. _

* * *

Emmeline and Hermione made it to the Pitch just as the Quaffle was being tossed. After finding Lily, Alice, and Marlene in the Gryffindor stands, and facing their questioning looks, the girls sat down to enjoy the game.

It was a spectacular one. Fred was just what the Gryffindor team needed to maintain their edge. His skills as Beater were phenomenal, and the commentator couldn't seem to talk him up enough.

"GOAL! TEN POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR!"

Soon enough, the score was fifty to zero, Gryffindor. The Lions' Seeker was alert and focused, searching for the Golden Snitch in the same way Harry did. Or would. Whatever.

About an hour into the game, a Bludger swooped toward James and hit the tail of his broom, sending it and him spinning in a circle. The whole Gryffindor crowd watched anxiously. James momentarily lost his footing and Lily was almost out of her seat in concern. She would later say it was because he was her fellow Head, but her friends all knew better.

A surprise helper came in Fred, who offered his hand to James to help him back onto his broom.

"Such sportsmanship!" the commentator said as James regained his place on his broom. Fred grinned and sped off to take care of Bludgers with Sirius.

Eventually, the Gryffindor Seeker caught the Snitch and won the game.

"So, you came after all, did you?" Fred smirked at Hermione as the group walked back toward the castle.

"I decided that homework could wait." She replied. Fred's smirk widened, but he said nothing else.

* * *

As usual, there was a huge party in Gryffindor Tower to celebrate the win. The Marauders snuck in some butterbeer and firewhiskey, and spiked almost all of the punch. People danced and drank themselves silly.

Hermione, to everyone's surprise, stayed for the party. She knew that she would regret it later, but she still had something to prove to Fred. Her stubbornness wouldn't allow to her let it go.

Taking a swig of the punch, Hermione winced. The acidic taste was awful - how did people drink this stuff?

"Enjoying yourself?" Fred asked, joining her on the couch by the fire.

"Not really." Hermione said honestly. "I hate this stuff." She held out the drink as far from her body as she could. Fred looked at it, grabbed the cup, and drank it in one gulp. "Fred!" she exclaimed. "You don't even know what was in that!"

"Sure I do. It was firewhiskey." He grinned at her scowl, and then licked his lips experimentally. Hermione felt strangely hypnotized by the action, and she almost dared to consider what it would be like to feel those lips on hers... "Never pegged you for a whiskey drinker." he added as an afterthought.

"I'm not." Hermione said stoutly, breaking herself away from those thoughts. "No wonder it tasted so horrible." She shivered.

"You need to relax and have fun, Mione." He slid his arm over her shoulder. Hermione didn't know what to say, and she was sure she had forgotten how to breathe. His mouth was dangerously close to her ear, and his spicy, yet earthy scent was invading her nostrils.

_No. Not good, get away, get away __**now! **_That voice should have been much louder than it was.

Before she had even though it through, Hermione had turned her head - and then she was kissing him. It was sloppy, slightly painful (their teeth banged together a few times) and completely unexpected, but to Hermione, it was the best kiss she'd ever had. Because it was with Fred.

_Oh Merlin. I'm kissing Fred Weasley. What...what am I doing?! This needs to stop, I need to get away...oh God, Ron's never going to forgive me! _Her mind raced, but the thoughts became more and more distant the longer their mouths were attached. She realized her eyes were closed, and opened them, moving her hands so that she could press against Fred's chest, gently pushing him away. Thought and function slowly returned to her brain, and as soon as it did, she bolted from the room.

* * *

"I don't want to talk about it." Hermione told her pillow as she heard the door to the dormitory open.

"I don't care what you want. You're talking about it." Marlene said determinedly. "Snogging Fred in the middle of the common room? What were you thinking?"

"I don't know! I was just...he was just...ugh!" she groaned and rolled over, the pillow still on her face.

"It was so cute though! The way she just turned toward him and he looked at her and..." Emmeline sighed dreamily. Hermione's face burned - so everyone had seen them?

"He's waiting at the bottom of the steps, you know. I'm sure if he could, he'd be up here." Lily said from behind Emmeline and Marlene.

"I don't want to see him." Hermione said, though she could picture his face in her mind clearly. He was probably confused, a little bit angry, and, of course, cocky. She groaned. Not only would Ron never forgive her, but she'd never hear the end of this.

"That's a lie." Marlene accused. Hermione sat up and the pillow fell into her lap.

"It is not!" Hermione argued. "I don't want to see him. I don't want to talk to him. I don't want him to ask me questions that I can't answer!"

"Can't, or won't?" Lily walked toward Hermione and sat on her bed. "I think there's something you're not telling us."

Hermione froze. Had Lily figured out the truth? "I don't know what, but there's something. You're holding back for some reason."

_I can't tell them about Ron unless I reveal the whole secret to them. _

"Just drop it."

"No."

"Girls, I appreciate what you're trying to do, but-"

"Friendship is about being honest. There's nothing you can't tell us. We'll still be your friends." Emmeline smiled.

Hermione sighed. She was touched by their dedication, but also afraid to let them in on the whole truth.

"It's a really long story." _And most of it's going to be a lie..._

"We have nothing but time."

_Tell me about it. _

* * *

"Waiting for Hermione?" James asked Fred as he walked down the stairs. Fred was sitting on the floor by those same stairs, hoping Hermione would come down so he could grab her and make her talk to him. And kiss her. And tell her that he'd fancied her since he was seventeen.

"Yeah." Fred replied.

"That was pretty gutsy. Kissing her in the middle of the common room like that."

"She kissed me." Fred told him, and James did a double take.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Sweet." James whistled. Fred chuckled. Talking to James was a bit like talking to George. Not the same, no one could replace his twin, but at least he didn't feel so alone now. "So what're you going to do now?"

"I don't know. She's upstairs and I can't get up there."

"She'll come around." James assured him. A few moments later, he looked at Fred again. "Do you think Lily likes me at all?"

"I think she does, mate. Just give her a bit of time." Fred said, wondering if he should take his own advice.

James leaned his head back on the castle wall. "I've given her four years. Shouldn't that be enough to let me know if I've only wasted my time?"

"You haven't wasted it. You love her. If it was a waste, then it wouldn't truly be love." James looked over at Fred.

"Love sucks."

And then they both laughed.

* * *

A/N: And that's where I'll end it I think. I wasn't sure if I should have them kiss just yet, but my gut said it was a good idea, so I went with it. Don't get too excited, they're not together. Kisses do not a relationship make. ;) You'll just have to wait and see what happens next!

Thank you for reading and please, please review! :D

-Charmy

P.S. The title for this chapter was inspired by a Fremione fanfiction! If you want to read it let me know and I'll send you the link! :D


	6. Strategies and Secrets

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

* * *

Chapter 6: Strategies and Secrets

Hermione Granger was not an impulsive person. She planned everything she did, and considered all possible consequences. She never did anything without prior thought. Which was why kissing Fred made absolutely no sense.

She told herself that she had planned it, that somewhere in the back of her mind she had thought about it, but deep down, she knew the truth. It had been an impulse, something she did just because she could. The fact that Fred had brought that out both terrified and intrigued her.

She had successfully managed to avoid him for three more days. She was sure to only leave the girl's dormitory with someone, or when she was going to class and could use that as an excuse not to talk to him.

It was a Friday, in late October, when Fred finally got her alone. They had been stuck in the past for about two and a half weeks, and Hermione knew that the sooner they found the Stone, the better off they'd be. At least, that was what she told herself to justify avoiding her only real friend in this time.

"We need to talk." He cut right the quick as Hermione whirled on her heel to face him. Licking her lips and ducking her head down, she backed up.

"I haven't made any progress on the Stone of Reddo." she said in what she hoped was a casual voice.

"That's not what I mean and you know it." He walked toward her and she swallowed the large lump in her throat. "You've been avoiding me."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hermione still wouldn't meet his eyes. "I've just been busy. Trying to blend in and all."

"Bullshit." Fred said. He stepped closer. She stepped back, her spine meeting the wall. Fred had been waiting outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and had specifically asked Lily not to walk with Hermione so he could stop her. The corridor was abandoned, as everyone had already moved on to class or their respective common rooms. "Why did you kiss me?"

Hermione's face burned. She knew this question was coming, but now that it was here, she had no idea what to say. Fred tipped her chin up with two fingers. He didn't need to speak, his eyes said everything. Confusion was the most prominent emotion, but there was also a sweet tenderness, his usual mirth, and was that hope? Or was she just projecting her own feelings?

_No. Don't imagine things that aren't there. He probably just wants to know why so he can set you down easily. After all, he is two years older than you and better suited for someone like Angelina Johnson. Someone who's pretty, athletic, funny...everything you _**_aren't._**

"Hermione?" Fred said softly, but it almost seemed echo in the silent corridor. "Please talk to me."

"I can't." Hermione whispered, her voice cracking. "I can't...I can't explain why I kissed you, okay? Can't we just forget it ever happened?" she pleaded.

"No." He said stubbornly. "You obviously had a reason for it. You don't do anything unless you have a reason. So tell me."

"I didn't have one!" she said in annoyance, turning her head away forcefully and shifting her bag on her back. "There, are you happy now? Hermione-stick-in-the-mud-Granger did something impulsive, something that she _really_ regrets and would appreciate moving on from."

Fred blinked, slowly processing everything that Hermione had just said. He also looked at her and watched how she still wouldn't meet his eyes, how she kept shifting her weight anxiously, and how her facial expression looked like a rabbit about to be eaten. "I need to go to the library." Hermione muttered, but as she turned to go, Fred grabbed her bicep.

"Hermione. Come on, don't do this."

She tried to ignore the way his touch felt on her arm.

"I'm sorry I kissed you, okay? Blame the alcohol. I have to go."

She shook herself free and walked away, leaving Fred shocked, and, surprisingly, hurt.

* * *

"So how did it go?" Lily asked eagerly as soon as Hermione walked into the library. "Fred asked me specifically not to walk with you so that he could talk to you. I thought it was really sweet so-"

"Nothing happened." Hermione sat down at a table and put her bag on the chair beside her. "And you sound a lot like Emmy."

"Nothing happened?" Lily repeated, her statement caught between a question and a sarcastic remark.

"You sound surprised." Hermione pulled her Defense notes from her bag and a clean sheet of parchment as well. She always liked to rewrite her notes - it helped her remember and made things neater - and she always gave the messy copy to Ron or Harry, whoever needed them more. Strangely, she missed them and their bad work ethics. At least they were normal - this time travel was doing nothing but making her head spin, in more ways than one.

"That's because I am! I'm appalled that he didn't confess how much he obviously loves you!"

Hermione's faced flushed, and she flexed her fingers over her quill, not looking at Lily. She tried to focus on her notes. _Trolls are dangerous creatures that should be avoided at all costs..._

"He doesn't love me. He barely knows me." Despite the compelling information about trolls, she found herself drawn to talking about her problems in a way that she never had with Ron or Harry.

"That's ridiculous! Have you seen the way he looks at you?" Lily sat down on the chair opposite Hermione, her green eyes wide.

"It doesn't matter! You know my problem with being with him!" Hermione whispered, noticing that Madam Pince was eyeing them distastefully. The last thing she needed was to have her last sanctuary taken away from her.

"You mean what you told us a couple of nights ago?"

"Yes!"

_Flashback_

_"Fred is one of seven children, and his younger brother, Ron, is one of my best friends. We dated briefly, but it goes so much farther than that. I fancied him for three years, and he fancied me back, but didn't realize it for a long time. When we finally did start dating, it fell apart. We're too different." _

"If his brother was really your friend, he wouldn't be a prat about the two of you in a relationship. He should be happy if you're happy."

"You don't know Ron." Hermione said, pushing a stray curl behind her ear, dipping her quill into the inkwell again. She had written a full sentence and was about to start her second when Lily spoke again.

"I don't, that's true, but I do know you." Hermione looked up.

"How could you know me? I've only been your friend for a few weeks-" Hermione began, putting down her quill and finally meeting Lily's eyes.

"I know you because you're a lot like me. You're not sure how you feel right now and you want to sort it all out. But boys will be boys and they want answers now. Not tomorrow, not next week, now."

Hermione looked around thoughtfully, biting her lip. "You know I'm right." Lily added with a cocky smirk.

"That's what scares me."

After sharing a tense-like silence, the two girls just laughed. Lily left shortly after for a Head meeting with James, and Hermione was able to focus on her schoolwork.

-X-X-X-

"Lily, hey, Lily!" Lily slowed her pace to allow James to catch up. "I've been looking all over the place for you!"

"I was in the library with Hermione." Lily replied. "What's up?"

"I should have checked there first." James said with a smile. Lily shook her head, not disagreeing, just in astonishment that he didn't realize the library was the first place to look. "And nothing really, I just wanted to see your beautiful face."

Lily rolled her eyes at his flirting, but her 'beautiful face' turned a light shade of pink nonetheless. She wasn't sure if James noticed, but if he did, she really hoped he wouldn't mention it. He didn't.

They walked a few more steps before James sprung the question on her. He'd been sitting on it for days, but had finally decided to go for it after his discussion with Fred a few nights before.

"Are you going to Hogsmeade this weekend?" James asked. Lily thought back to the calendar on the announcement board. This weekend was a Hogsmeade weekend, wasn't it?

"I'm not sure. I have work I need to finish."

"That's what Sundays are for." James said dismissively. "We could go together if you want." he said. "Just as friends, I mean. I need to get some things from Zonko's, and I'd love it if you would accompany me."

He sounded flustered, which made Lily smile a little.

"I'd love too." She said, and James grinned at her.

* * *

"You're going to Hogsmeade with James?!" Emmy demanded, sounding like she was both happy and outraged, which was quite a feat. "When did this happen, when are you going, and _what are you wearing_?"

"Earlier today, this weekend, and I haven't thought that far ahead yet." Lily replied calmly, as though she was accustomed to Emmeline's panic attacks. "It's not a date Emmy. We're just going as friends."

"So you're telling me that if he tried to kiss you, you'd say no?" Marlene asked skeptically.

"Well..." Lily said thoughtfully. "I don't know what I'd say. Probably nothing."

"Because you can't keep your hands off of him!" Emmy finished triumphantly. Lily turned red.

"Stop putting words in my mouth!" the redhead cried, glaring at her friend. Emmy just smirked. "What do you want me to say? That I'll kiss him back and we'll live happily ever after?"

"Yes!" Emmy replied as though it were obvious. Lily shook her head.

"It's not that simple." Lily said, pushing her hair away from her eyes. "I wish it was, though." She paused, quiet for a few minutes. "...I might actually fancy him a little."

* * *

"Evans finally said yes?" Sirius asked, awestruck.

"Not in so many words. It's not even a date, really." James ran a hand through his hair, a nervous smile on his face. "But it's a step in the right direction."

Fred grinned, happy for James. Then he frowned. He still wasn't sure where it relationship with Hermione was, or even if it was a relationship at all. He thought back to the conversation he'd had with Hermione earlier.

_"I'm sorry I kissed you. Blame the alcohol, okay? I have to go."_

Blame the alcohol? She'd barely taken more than a sip of her firewhiskey, as he'd taken it from her. Her excuse was lame at best, and he was sure she knew it. So why would she bother? Why wouldn't she just be honest with him?

"It's because she's scared." Remus was saying, and Fred looked up. Sirius had apparently questioned why Lily hadn't gone out with James before. "She doesn't know how she's feeling, so she hides herself completely."

"Girls are weird." Sirius stated. "Take Marlie for example. She won't talk to me, but I know she still fancies me."

"How do you possibly know that?" Remus asked.

"It's obvious, Moony! I mean, really. Who wouldn't fall for this hot body and dashing personality?"

"And you're so humble," Remus said with a bit of sarcasm, a smile on his face.

"Exactly!" Sirius agreed, and Remus chuckled. The lycanthrope met Fred's eyes.

"Have you talked to Hermione?" he asked, and Fred sighed.

"I tried too, but she's been avoiding me. Gave me a bullshit excuse about being drunk when she kissed me."

"I didn't see her drink anything."

"You could barely see two feet in front of you, Pads. You were so wasted that you were lucky you didn't injure yourself." James said with a grin.

Sirius shrugged, unashamed.

"Go hard or go home, right?" he said. "Anyway, we're not talking about me. While that is a fascinating topic, we're gossiping about ickle Freddie and Hermie."

With a pang, Fred wondered what George would say in this situation. He thought about his twin constantly, wondering what he would do, what he would say, how he would react to what they were dealing with. It had become very normal to go to classes and live their lives in 1977, soon to be 1978, but Hermione and Fred both knew that it was only temporary.

"From what I could tell, Hermione doesn't like alcohol." Remus observed. "She kind of reminds me of Lily, James."

"Really?" James asked, interested. "How so?"

"Well, they're both studious, intelligent, and very pretty."

"Once you get past the teeth and the hair on Hermione that is." Sirius commented, and Fred promptly threw a pillow at him. "Just kidding, mate. Don't get your balls in a twist."

"Moving on," Remus intervened before Fred could retort in Hermione's defense, "They have similar personalities too. Hot tempered, dedicated, and very strict about rules. The funny thing is, their personalities are completely opposite the two of you." He looked at Fred and James. "You two are quite similar as well."

"Blimey Moony, have you been stalking us, or are you just observing again?" James asked.

"There's nothing wrong with being observant." Remus replied. James, Sirius, and Fred looked at each other and shook their heads. "Would you like some advice, Fred?"

Fred nodded. "Let Hermione come to you. Don't go chasing after her - I watched that fail with James, I don't want to see it happen with the two of you."

"I resent that! It hasn't failed!" James cried, sounding insulted.

"It's taken three years, James." Remus said heavily. "I don't think Fred has that kind of time."

Fred almost laughed - time. What was it anymore? He hadn't the faintest idea since he'd been thrown back to a time that was twenty years prior to his own.

"I see what you're saying," Sirius nodded earnestly. "You want Fred to play hard to get."

Remus nodded.

"Exactly."

"Brilliant!" Fred grinned. "So how do I do it?"

* * *

A/N: So there has been a partial revelation, a but of sexual tension, and of course, Marauder-awesomeness! So yay!

Quick question before I go:

Should Emmeline have a crush/fake relationship with Fred to make Hermione jealous?

A) YES! It would be BRILLIANT!

B) NO! THIS IS A FRED AND HERMIONE STORY DAMN IT!

C) I like the idea a lot and it has great potential. Do what you want though, it's your story.

Please let me know what you thought of the chapter and tell me your vote in your review!

-Charmy


	7. Hush Money

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

-X-X-X-

Chapter 7: Hush Money

Lily surveyed at herself in the mirror. _Okay, mental checklist. _She thought, taking quick, deep breaths through her nose to calm her speeding heart. _Emmy-approved outfit... _She was wearing a green sweater with denim skinny jeans with her auburn hair falling down her back, perfectly straight, and her side bangs were clipped back with a butterfly pin. The pin fluttered every few seconds, glittering when it hit the light correctly. _Check. _After brushing her hair for the thousandth time, she gave herself a critical once-over. _Homework done? _She thought for a few minutes. _Check. _Another critical stare-down with the mirror. _Date worthy? Check. _With a smile and a spring in her step, walked down the Grand Staircase to meet with James for their outing.

_Merlin, she's beautiful. _James thought as Lily approached. Not for the first time, he wished that he hadn't screwed up his chances by being a prat in fifth year. The fact that she was talking to him now was appalling to him, but the last thing he would do was complain.

"Ready to go?" She asked, trying to give him a discreet once-over. He was wearing a Gryffindor Quidditch t-shirt under a black button down with black jeans and his muddy trainers. She could see his toned muscles ripple under his shirt and tried not to think about how safe, or warm, or happy she would feel in those arms.

"Sure. Sirius and Remus should be down in a few minutes."

"They're coming with us?" She tried, and failed, to hide the disappointment from her voice. James grinned at her.

"Nah. I just wanted to see how you'd react." Lily glared at him.

"That wasn't funny." she said. "Can we go?"

"Lead the way, fair maiden."

"...Shut up, you prat."

* * *

"Fred!" Emmeline appeared in front of Fred, and he stepped back a few feet to avoid a collision. "Where are you going right now?"

"I was going to get a snack from the kitchens. Care to join me?"

"I'd be honored." Emmeline grinned. Fred smiled back.

The two ventured to the kitchens, where, after tickling the pear, Emmeline revealed her reason for their little kitchen trip.

"It's very clear that you fancy Hermione." She began, cutting right to the quick. Fred's mouth ticked up in an unsurprised smile. He figured that was why she had stopped him. "It's also pretty obvious, to me at least, that she fancies you back. But, despite your many attempts to woo her, she still doesn't seem to realize what she's missing."

"Right. So what do you think I should do?"

"Make her realize it, make her see that she's seriously missing out."

"James, Sirius, and Remus suggested something similar," Fred told her. "Though they said I should play hard to get - let her come to me."

"Close." Emmeline smiled from behind her teacup. "However, I have something a little more devious in mind."

Fred's eyebrow arched.

"I'm listening."

* * *

Lily Evans very rarely went on dates with anyone. Sure, she'd been asked out plenty, but had always politely declined. (Except where James was concerned - those rejections were not polite at _all._) Not to mention, James had a tendency to hex anyone who got too close to her, especially in fifth year.

Despite this, or perhaps due to it, Lily had no idea how she was supposed to act on a date. She told herself that it was just an outing as friends, as a way to learn more about each other, but the way her heart raced and her palms sweat said something else entirely.

"Have you ever been to Zonko's before?" James asked her, and Lily looked up at him, distracted.

"No, can't say I have. I always thought it was a place for immature pranksters."

"It is, but that's what makes it so great!" James grinned toothily, and Lily melted a little. "Allow me to introduce you to the wondrous world of Zonko's Joke Shop!" He pushed open a door and Lily was thrust into a colorful array of prank objects as far as the eye could see.

"Mr. Potter! It's been quite a while since I've seen you in here!" Mr. Zonko said loudly upon seeing his favorite customer.

"Just getting a few things, Zonks." James replied fondly. "I've brought a friend along too." Lily's stomach flipped - so they really were _just friends._ "Mr. Zonko, this is Lily. Lily Evans."

"I've heard a lot about you!" Mr. Zonko grinned. "I remember two years ago - James couldn't talk about you enough!" Lily couldn't help but smile, even though fifth year was a year full of bad memories for her, she wasn't too dim to realize that James had always had a soft spot for her, however now she was seeing it as legitimate attraction, not an insidious plot to hang her knickers on his bedpost. "You haven't been around as much, though." Mr. Zonko sounded quite upset by this.

"I'm sorry Zonks. I've been really busy with Head duties and-"

"I know, Sirius told me! Mr. Head Boy!" Zonko clapped James on the back and James laughed, scratching the back of his head. "Never would have thought."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that no one expected you to be Head Boy." Lily answered for Mr. Zonko. "That's what you meant to say, right?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself." Mr. Zonko beamed. Lily smiled.

After buying more joke products than necessary, James and Lily left the store and walked through Hogsmeade, talking amicably.

Lily was surprised - and admittedly happy - to discover that her outing with James was quite fun. No drama, no petty fights, nothing to imply that the two had been bitter rivals for the last six years of their lives. It was nice, Lily thought as they walked back to the castle. She studied James's profile and hid a small smile.

_Very_ nice.

_Even if we are just friends,_ Lily thought. _At least we can be friends after everything that's happened. _

_It's a start. _

* * *

Later that night, Fred found Lily in the library. She was writing an essay, and he supposed he could see why James fancied her so much - she _was _very pretty. However, for him to see her as anything more than a friend...she looked far too much like Ginny or his mum, with the red hair, and that was too weird to think about.

"Hey, Lily." he said, and the girl looked up.

"Fred." she smiled. "If you're looking for Hermione-"

"I'm not." Fred said. "I'm looking for you." Curious, and perhaps a bit confused, Lily put down her quill and gave him her full attention. "I'm working on a new project." he said, sitting down. "It's not a prank, so don't go yelling at James. It's more of a...plan."

"A plan for what?"

"I'm going to make Hermione jealous."

"How?"

"By dating Emmeline."

Lily's mouth dropped open, whether from outrage or surprise, Fred couldn't tell. "Now don't get too upset with me. It's not real. It's just to get her jealous - we'll go on a few dates, hold hands, flirt, that sort of thing-"

"Are you insane?" Fred stopped short, not exactly surprised, but more perplexed by the angry look on the girl's face. "That is the most backhanded, asinine, downright disgusting move I've ever heard!"

"Lily-"

"I know you're desperate, Fred, but really!"

"I'm not desperate!" Fred protested. Lily ignored him.

"Using Hermione's friend to get her jealous? How low could you go? If she does fancy you, which you don't even have solid proof of - and the kiss does _not _count - then you should wait and let her figure out her feelings in her own time."

_We don't have time! _Fred thought, but stopped himself from impulsively saying so.

"It was actually Emmeline's idea." Lily was unimpressed. "But come on, Lily! What else am I supposed to do?"

Lily didn't respond for a few moments, and Fred tried not to show how nervous he was.

"I guess I can't change your mind." she sighed. "But so you know, I don't support this idea, and I hope you're ready for the fallout."

"It's okay that you don't like it. To be honest, I didn't think you would." Fred sighed. "But we're really pressed for time, and I can't deal with not knowing how she really feels."

"You really need to learn the value of patience." Lily said, returning to her work. Fred took that as his cue to leave.

* * *

Meanwhile, Hermione was sitting in the Gryffindor Common Room, attempting to read the next chapter in her Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook.

The key word being _attempting. _

The poor girl couldn't concentrate _at all. _

_How can one person be so all-encompassing? _She wondered. _How can he be such an essential part of my day? My life? How does his smile, his scent, affect me so? I never felt such a need for Ron, I just accepted that I loved him because I had since we first met. Though I never felt the real sickness of love, the real pain of it, because Ron never gave me the chance too. I was so busy being angry or upset with him all of the time, that when I really did look at what mattered, to find that we were far too different, the relationship fell apart. _

She put her head in her hands, elbows on her open textbook.

_This is where he would tell me to stop thinking so much. But I can't help it. Thinking and analyzing is what I do best. Maybe the Hat should have put me in Ravenclaw..._

"Hermione!" Startled, the brunette girl jumped slightly and the sudden movement made her book fall to the floor and close, thus losing her page. Cursing softly, she bent down to pick it up when she saw that Emmeline was practically bouncing over some sort of exciting news.

"What's up, Em?" Hermione rubbed the side of her head - all her anxious thought had given her a headache.

"I have such amazing news!" Emmeline said giddily. "Come on!" She grabbed Hermione's arm and dragged her up the stairs.

* * *

Fred laid back on his bed and sighed heavily. His conversation with Lily was still weighing on his mind. Was his plan with Emmeline really worth it? Could he really find it in him to pretend to be dating one girl while fancying another? He knew Emmeline had no romantic feelings for him - she saved those for Remus - however he also knew that he had a lot of feelings for Hermione, and really wanted to be with her. He had never truly thought about it before, but now, without George or Ron in the way, he really, really wanted to date Hermione.

"Oi, Fred!" Sirius called as he and the other Marauders marched into the dormitory. "How's it hanging?"

"Low." Fred replied flatly. Sirius blinked. Usually, there was some kind of innuendo meant in that statement, but the way Fred said it sounded like he was upset about something.

"What's got you down, mate?" James asked, sitting on the edge of his former bed.

"Girls." Fred answered. "Particularly Hermione and Emmeline."

"Emmeline?" Remus questioned, and Fred looked at him. His eyes were wide and he looked vaguely...territorial. It was strange, to see him look that way.

"You know how you guys told me to play hard to get with Hermione? Well Emmeline decided to take it a step further."

"How?" James asked.

"We're pretending to date."

Silence fell across the room, and Fred closed his eyes, waiting for...something. He wasn't sure how they would react, to be honest, but he was almost sure it wouldn't be good.

"Pretending?" Remus spoke first.

"Pretending." Fred sat up. "I'm trying to make Hermione jealous."

"Dating one of the bird's friends to make her jealous?" Sirius tested the words, as though considering them himself. "Brilliant." He grinned. _Well, at least I have Sirius's approval. _Fred thought dryly.

"So it's not a real relationship?" Remus asked.

"Not really, no. But we have to make it look and seem real, so Hermione believes it. Which means I'll need your help." Fred knew he was asking a lot, especially of Remus, who he was pretty sure fancied Emmeline, but he needed their help.

"You got it." James smiled. "What do you need us to do?"

"Just go along with it, really. Act surprised when Hermione finds out, that sort of thing."

"Shouldn't be too hard." Sirius shrugged. Fred partially smiled.

_Let the games begin. _

* * *

A/N: And there it is, finally! The new chapter! Ugh, sorry this took so long. I went on vacation in June and then I started work right after that, so I lost time from that, and then I had a really bad writer's block to muddle through, which explains the choppiness and slight lack of usual flow in this chapter (read: total lack) so, yeah. Sorry about the wait.

Hope you guys are still there and willing to review!

-Charmy

P.S. I'm really trying to listen to what you guys want for the chapters, so if you have anything specific, be sure to let me know! I know one of you asked for more Lily and Fred and Hermione and James interaction, so I tried to include that here, at least the Lily and Fred part. I'll try to put some James and Hermione in the next one, so yeah.

P.P.S Long author's note is long. Whoops. ^^'


	8. The Games We Play

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

-X-X-X-

Chapter 8: The Games We Play

Floating jack-o-lanterns adorned the ceiling of the Great Hall, the Halloween spirit prevalent among the students and staff of Hogwarts. Halloween meant it had been just over a month since Hermione and Fred had been sent back in time.

_Strange how so many things can happen in such a short time. _Hermione thought as she bit into a piece of toast. _Especially a new relationship..._Her grip tightened on her goblet of pumpkin juice as she recalled how Emmeline had revealed her and Fred's new relationship.

_"He was so sweet about it!" she gushed. "He just came up to me yesterday and asked me to Hogsmeade! I'd always sort of thought he was cute, so I said yes! I can't wait!"_

Her fingers cramped as she lowered the goblet to the table.

_Why do I care anyway? _She asked herself as she ate, her eyes narrowed. _Other than the fact that we need to prove that we're in love if we want to get back to our own time. _Her chewing slowed and she swallowed, feeling nauseated. _So what? _She shook herself, standing. _I really shouldn't care what he does. I never did before. _Pausing, Hermione considered that thought. _Well, that's not entirely true. In fifth year I spent so much time scolding and yelling at him and George and-_

_I need to stop thinking about him._

She was walking toward the entrance to the Great Hall when she saw the new couple in the flesh. They were holding hands and smiling, and Hermione was certain that Emmeline was blushing. The sight made her stomach hurt. She told herself it was indigestion as she hurried out of the bustling hall.

She didn't notice Fred's stare. Or his small smirk.

_And so it begins. _

* * *

Raindrops raced down the windowpanes, and Hermione internally groaned. Of course it would rain the day she had two outdoor classes - Herbology first, and then Care of Magical Creatures.

"Good morning, Hermione. You're early for class." Professor Thomas smiled at her as he walked down the stairs from his office.

"I wanted to get a head start, sir." Hermione said with a polite nod. She sat down at her desk and started to prepare for the day. Professor Thomas leaned against his desk, watching the drenching rainfall just outside the castle walls.

Soon enough, the rest of the class meandered into the room, and Hermione was thankful that she didn't have this class with Fred or Emmeline. Lily sat down next to her, a concerned look on her face.

"Avoiding him isn't going to work." she stated flatly.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Hermione replied automatically, almost sounding robotic.

"Yes you do." Lily took her inkwell and quill from her bag and looked at Hermione again. "I was there for breakfast. I was talking to James, but I still saw you leave and barely say anything to him as you passed."

"I had nothing to say."

"Normally I would believe that, if you were just friends. If you didn't fancy him like your life depends on it."

Hermione's curls whirled as she whipped her head around, but before she could speak, class began.

She wrote a quick note to Lily on the edge of her parchment.

_We'll talk later. _

Lily just smiled.

Her plan was falling perfectly into place.

* * *

Lily was on her way back from Potions when she saw him.

Severus.

Her throat tightened - he looked awful, worse than usual. His face was a shade away from death, his hair as greasy as it had always been, and his dark eyes downcast.

He must have sensed her looking at him, because he looked up.

Their eyes met.

"Lily." he spoke her name, and she squeezed her eyes shut tightly.

"Don't talk to me, Severus." Lily spoke. "You may upset your Death Eater friends."

Severus approached her cautiously, and she glared at him.

"They're not my friends, Lily. You are."

"I was." Lily corrected. "Before you called me a...what was that word you used?" she pretended to think. "Oh, yes. _Mudblood._" Severus visibly flinched. "Oh, now you hate that word. It only took losing me to do it."

"Please, Lily! I miss you so much! I'm sorry!" Severus cried, his voice hoarse. Suddenly overwhelmed with anger, Lily slapped him across the face. Never one for violence, she immediately felt bad for it, but refused to let her remorse show.

"You should have thought about that before you called me a filthy little Mudblood." She didn't let him reply before she turned on her heel and left.

It was only when she got into the Head dormitory that she let herself cry.

* * *

A little bit later, James returned to the Head dorm. Lily tried to regain her composure, but it was too late.

"Lily!" Tossing his bag to the floor, he went to her side, his forehead creased with worry. "What happened?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it." she said, hiding her face behind her hair. She always hated how she looked after crying.

"Lily, you're sitting by yourself and crying. You never cry, at least not that I've seen. I'm not going to forget about it." James said, matter-of-factly. "Now tell me what happened."

Lily almost smiled at his concern. Then she remembered the crushed look on Sev's face as she walked away. Her chest hurt - she had loved him. Not romantically, no, but he was her best friend, her confidant. He was the one person she could open up to, wholly and completely, the one person who never failed to be by her side. And then he ruined it.

"Sev." Lily said quietly. "I saw him today, on my way back from Potions. He just stared at me, and then tried to apologize. Apologize!" Lily scoffed, as though the idea meant nothing, however it meant a lot more than that. Not quite everything, but a lot. She wished she could accept his apology, but she couldn't. Not after he'd hurt her so effortlessly.

"Snivellus. I should have known." James growled under his breath. Anger rolled off of James in waves, and Lily knew he was plotting some sort of cruel way of getting back at the Slytherin.

"Don't go after him." Lily said, still not meeting his eyes. "Please, just let it be."

"After the way he hurt you? Even now? Forget it!" James got to his feet, but so did Lily. She grabbed his hand.

"Please, James. If you care about me at all, you'll let him be."

Indecision crossed his handsome face immediately, and he sat back down, sighing. He noticed she was still holding his hand. She apparently did too, and tried to pull away. He held tighter. "I need that." she said irreverently, gesturing to her hand. James brought his hand to cup the side of her face. Tears had made a mess of her makeup, and the sobbing had thoroughly flushed her face.

"He doesn't deserve your tears, you know." James told her quietly. Lily's emerald eyes flicked to his for a minute before looking away, toward the window.

"I'm not crying for him. I'm crying because of the friendship that he threw away. Despite what you may think, he was my best friend for a long time, before Hogwarts. He was the one that told me about magic, because he knew I was a witch when I performed magic at a young age. When Petunia spurned me out of jealousy, he was there. When I was a nervous wreck about the Sorting, he was there. When Emmeline and I had a huge fight in second year, he was there. When you first pranked me in third year - and I stupidly thought it was something I had done - he was there. It didn't matter what I was going through or who I was angry at - Sev was **_always there_**. I know you don't really want to hear me sing his praises, but it's the truth. When he called me a Mudblood, it was like he had taken a knife and carved out my heart." She clenched her fist over her chest, as though the pain was still tangible. She looked at their clasped hands. "I still wish I could talk to him, sometimes. I've never been the kind of girl that can just ignore her problems like Emmeline seems to be able too. I've never been the kind of girl that can hold it all in, like Marlene does. I'm different. I'm..." she paused, taking a breath to avoid crying again.

"You're amazing." James filled in for her, and she met his eyes completely for the first time.

"No I'm not." Lily said, a small smile coming to her face despite it all.

"You are. I never understood how you could be that slimeball's friend, but now I sort of see it. He was your friend before anyone else, the kind of person you could depend on no matter what. He was as important to you as the Marauders are to me."

Lily's smile went a bit wider.

"A few years ago, you wouldn't have thought that way." she observed.

"I've matured." he said with a wink, and then he stood. "Come on, it's time for dinner." He pulled her to her feet, their hands still clasped together. They walked down to the Great Hall like that, ignoring the confused glances and stares. They only separated when they got to the bottom of the staircase.

* * *

A week passed, and Emmeline and Fred's 'relationship' was met with positivity from everyone.

Except Hermione.

Every instinct told her to confront Fred and remind him that they didn't have time for games, that they needed to find the Stone of Reddo before they got stuck in this time forever.

The only problem with that plan was that Fred would somehow turn it into her being jealous and using the stone as an excuse, which was the exact opposite of what she was really doing. At least that was what she told herself as she ate her dinner on Mischief Night, the food tasting like cotton in her mouth. The couple was making googly eyes at each other across the table and based on the shrill giggles Emmeline kept releasing, they were playing footsie as well.

The whole scene made her sick. Even when she had been with Ron, they'd never been this disgustingly romantic.

Remus seemed to be sharing in her misery, because he was quieter than usual. He, like Hermione, kept stealing glances at the new couple, though, unlike Hermione, he was looking at Emmeline instead of Fred.

Hermione saved that observation for another day and focused on forcing the tasteless food down her throat. Normally Hogwarts food was incredible, but today it was just awful.

Or maybe that was the jealousy worming around in her stomach. Either way, she just was not up to eating her dinner.

"It's okay to be jealous, you know." Marlene said to her, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"I'm not jealous!" Hermione hastily replied, quite loudly. Hoping Fred hadn't heard, she lowered her voice.

"Then explain the figurative green monster sitting on your back." Marlene said, and Hermione ground her teeth. "It's okay." she said, with her usual bravado. Hermione knew that the blond was just trying to help, but if anything, it was only making her feel worse.

* * *

For the rest of the evening, Hermione studiously avoided Fred and Emmeline, as they were always together, James and Lily went on rounds, and Sirius finally cornered Marlene.

"We need to talk, Marlie." Sirius told her, and she scowled at him.

"Whatever could you mean?" she asked, her voice dripping with icy sarcasm. "Surely you haven't grown a set of balls-"

"My balls are of no equivalence here, Marles."

"Marlene." She corrected. "Stop giving me ridiculous nicknames."

"Marlene," Sirius put extra emphasis on it, glaring at her. "You've been avoiding me for weeks. Ever since we had sex, you've been acting like I gave you a disease or something."

Marlene couldn't help but recoil at his words. There it was - out in the open. They'd made love in a night of confused passion, and he'd taken something precious from her. She wouldn't go as far as to say he raped her, but she would say that he had stolen something, and losing that something marked the end of her childhood, something she was not willing to let go of.

"You may has well have." she snapped.

"What the bloody hell does that mean?" Sirius demanded. "You're not sick, so I don't-" he stopped, and thought about it. "Wait a second." A look of realization crossed his face.

"Way to go, genius. You figured it out." Her voice was softer, less scathing.

"Marlie..." he gaped. "I...I was your first?"

"Do you remember anything from that night?" she wanted to know, huffing. "I told you it was!"

Sirius tried - he tried to remember. But all he could think about was how he had taken it. It. Her virginity. Her innocence. It was no wonder she hated him - he didn't even remember what was supposed to be the most romantic night of her life!

"Marlie-"

"Don't apologize." she said, turning around. "Just don't forget."

She walked away.

* * *

"Happy Halloween!" Fred crowed upon entering the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione jumped, surprised. She closed her book and went toward the stairs, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her. "Hey."

"Go away." she said, not looking at him.

"Hermione-"

"Go." she shook his hand away from her shoulder and went up the stairs, holding back the tears that were threatening to fall. She didn't want this. She wanted to be with him, to be in Emmeline's place. But she couldn't, and the gap between them would only continue to widen.

* * *

A/N: The game of love is certainly a cruel one, no?

So I had a lot of fun with this chapter. Lots of drama, and more to come. Again, I am taking suggestions for future chapters, so tell me what you want to see and I'll do my best to make it fit!

Please review, and thank you for stopping by!

-Charmy


	9. Walk The Line

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

-X-X-X-

Chapter 9: Walk The Line

When Emmeline came buzzing into the Gryffindor girls' dormitory, Hermione wanted to sink into a dark hole and never come out.

When Fred's girlfriend started going on about their date and how happy she was with him, Hermione was sorely tempted to take a pillow and scream into it. She was happy that her friend was happy, but did she have to be so obvious about it?

"Well that's lovely, Emmy," Lily said gently, noting Hermione's discomfort. "Why don't we talk about something else?"

"Like what?" Emmeline asked, honestly perplexed. Lily paused, stuck.

"Erm, schoolwork?"

Emmeline made a face. "Fine then. Um..."

"Let's talk about how Emmy desperately needs help in Charms." Marlene said from her bed, smirking in Emmeline's astonished direction.

"I do not need help in Charms!" she said indignantly.

"Your 'Dreadful' is showing, love." Marlene replied. Emmeline flushed.

"Okay, so maybe I might kind of sort of need a bit of help..." she looked at Lily, who was well known for her prowess in the subject.

Lily smiled.

"I'll be happy to help you, Em. Just make sure you don't get distracted."

It took all of five minutes for Emmeline to get distracted again, and, as custom of late, the conversation went back to Fred. Trying desperately to focus, Hermione thought she finally managed it when one phrase made her snap.

"He's _such _a good snogger too!"

Slamming her book closed, Hermione had had enough. She mumbled an excuse about going to the library and left the room, missing Emmeline's secretive smirk.

She couldn't wait to tell Fred just how jealous his 'friend' was.

* * *

When Hermione got to her sanctuary, she was pleasantly surprised to find James at a table, working on notes of some kind. Hermione could see his profile as he intently focused on his work, his messy hair occasionally falling into his eyes. James Potter's attractiveness level was not easily denied, even by Hermione, who had absolutely no romantic feelings for her best friend's father.

It was when she thought of Harry that a plan came to her. Maybe thinking of the Chosen One directly hadn't inspired her, but before she knew what she was doing, she was crossing the room to James's table.

"I need your help."

James looked up from the History of Magic notes he was copying from Remus. Hermione was standing there, looking nervous and fidgety, but also determined.

"With what?" he leaned back and gestured to the chair across from him. She sat down and folded her hands, picking at her fingernails as she spoke.

"This is going to sound strange, but..." she bit her lip. James smiled encouragingly.

"When you put it that way, I really want to know. Strange and mischievous are my speciality." Hermione was struck with how much he sounded like Fred, which made her insides squirm. "Really, though, what can I do for you?"

"Gooutwithme." the bookworm blustered out.

"Sorry, what?" James leaned forward to hear her better. She whispered it in his ear, and his eyes went comically wide.

"Oh damn. Hermione." he paused, not sure how to phrase his next response. "Look, I'm flattered, but I don't see you that way. I've worked too hard and too long - with Lily - a-and getting her to like me - that I can't go out with anyone right now."

"It wouldn't be a real date," Hermione said, pleadingly. "Call it an experiment of sorts." At James's slightly confused look, she continued. "I just want to see how Fred would react if I were going out with a friend of his, since he's doing the same thing by dating Emmeline."

Trying to appear nonchalant, because he knew Fred's relationship with Emmeline was a sham, James chose his next words carefully. As he thought, a new idea came to him.

"So you're trying to get him jealous? Give him a taste of his own medicine?" Hermione nodded emphatically, her head bobbing up and down like a doll. "Then I suggest you talk to Remus. He's been carrying a torch for Emmeline for ages."

"Really?" Hermione wasn't surprised, exactly, more thoughtful. It would explain his reaction to Fred and Emmeline's disgusting displays at meals, and how he had been distancing himself from everyone for the last few weeks. "Thanks for understanding, James." She smiled, standing. James smiled back.

"Don't worry about Fred too much." James told her. "I think he'll come around eventually."

"I hope so." she replied, purposefully vague. _For both of our sakes. _

* * *

Naturally, it did not take Molly Weasley a very long time to figure out that one of her sons and her adopted daughter were missing. Even George and Ginny couldn't hide something like that for very long.

And when she did finally find out, in typical Molly fashion, she completely lost it.

"George Fabian Weasley, there had better be some sort of explanation for this!" Molly slammed her hands down on the kitchen counter in the Burrow, rage and worry warring for a place in her rampage. "How can you not know where your own twin brother is?! How is that possible?"

"Don't forget Hermione." Ginny mumbled, though recoiled when her mother and brother sent her cross looks.

"I haven't, don't worry, Ginevra." Molly's voice was cold, but still tinged with fear. "Tell me what happened! If it's because of more of your tomfoolery, I will shut down your shop and bring you back here kicking and screaming!"

"Let's not get hasty, Mum!" George said daringly. Molly's glare was fierce. He knew it was only because she cared, but threatening to shut down their life's work was a bit much, even for her. "It's my belief that..." he paused, not entirely sure what to say to prevent his mother's explosion. "Fred and Hermione have gone back in time."

There was a long, anxious pause.

Then:

"WHAT?!" The whole Burrow shook with the force of Molly's bellow, and the ghost moaned from the attic. "How is that possible?"

George tousled his hair and leaned against the counter, closing his eyes and doing his best to keep his cool. "Well?" Molly demanded, looking between her two children.

"When Fred and I were in Egypt," George began. "We found this stone. The Muggle tour guide said that it was the Stone of Tempus, or, as Harry clarified, the Stone of Time. The legend says that it will send any two people back in time to a pair of people with similar destinies." He glanced at his mum before continuing. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. We just have to wait until they finish what they need to do there."

"Wherever there is." Ginny added.

Molly took a deep, calculating breath.

"This had better not be another one of your pranks, George." she warned. "If it is, I will close down your shop myself."

George had no doubt that she would.

_Get home soon, Freddie. I don't know how much longer I can hold Mum off. _

* * *

Wind howled and rain came down in sheets as the Gryffindor Quidditch team practiced. James maintained his rain or shine rule, and by the time it was over, Fred was as miserable as Ron without food. Not only had Gryffindor's original Beater been out with an injury, he was banned from Quidditch for fighting in the first place, so Fred had a permanent spot on the team.

Hermione knew Emmeline was out supporting Fred, Lily was in the Head dormitory, and Marlene was in the common room, still avoiding Sirius. So she went to the library, looking for Remus. She had seriously thought about what James had suggested, and decided to talk to Remus about it. The worst thing he could do was say no.

"No."

Who knew the word 'no' could be so crushing?

"Please Remus! It's not like I'm asking you to commit a crime or anything!" Hermione begged openly, her brown eyes pleading. "Just pretend to be with me for a little while."

"Why not just talk to Fred, instead of getting me involved?" Remus asked, irritated.

"Because...well, because..." Hermione stammered, flustered. Remus crossed his arms over his chest, raising an eyebrow. She sighed. "We don't even have to go out. I just want him to think that we're together."

Remus scratched his forehead thoughtfully, debating. "And it may get Emmeline jealous too."

"What makes you think I want her to be jealous?" Remus asked, stiffening.

"It's obvious." Hermione replied. "It works out for the both of us!"

Remus sighed. He didn't like the idea - he honestly thought it was backhanded and unnecessary. However, he could also see the merits behind it - the best way to figure out how someone felt about you was to watch and observe their reactions to different situations. At least, that's what Remus did. It usually worked rather well.

"Fine." Hermione grinned. He hesitantly took her hand, and she looked down. "Starting now?" he asked, as if he needed verification.

"Starting now."

* * *

Marlene kept her head down as she went through the halls of Hogwarts, so much so that she didn't see the very boy she was trying to avoid before they collided, books and body parts flying.

She knelt down to the ground, picking up her books as quickly as she could and not saying a word. Being herself around him wasn't working, so she thought that if she just ignored him all together, not even talking to him, it would make bearing her pain a little bit easier.

"Marles." Sirius murmured. Marlene froze. The sensitivity in his voice...it sounded just like it had the night they...she shook herself, focusing on his negative qualities. His arrogance, his pride, his annoyingly handsome face...

"Don't talk to me and I won't talk to you. I'll be just like the rest of your whores." she bit out.

"Don't talk about yourself that way!" Sirius said before he could stop himself. "You're more important than them." he added softly.

She glared up at him, her eyes flashing, before she realized that looking into his eyes would only mean falling for him again, and that was something she _could not _do. "Marlene."

"_What_?!" she demanded, at the edge of her very short temper. "Just what do you want from me, Black? What else can you take from me that you haven't already?"

"Just hear me out." Sirius said, covering her hand with his over her Transfiguration textbook. "Please. I owe you."

"Don't you dare pity me, you selfish bastard."

"It's not pity. Do you always have to expect the worst from people?"

"No." she said, grabbing her books with more force than necessary. "Just you."

"Oh, really? And what makes me so special?" Sirius was getting annoyed now. He thought that this was what she wanted. How was he supposed to make up for what had happened if she wouldn't let him?

"Figure it out." she sneered, shoving her books into her bag, turning on her heel, and walking away.

Sirius let out a cry of frustration and went up to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Marlene wandered to a random corridor, where she threw her bag down, backed herself against a wall and slowly slid down it, tears falling down her cheeks.

* * *

When Hermione and Remus came back to the common room together, it wasn't exactly a surprise. They often worked together in the library, and came back at various times, depending on when their work was finished.

What was a surprise was that they were _holding hands. _Like a _couple. _

Fred looked up when Emmeline nudged him, and his eyes went wide.

_There's no way. No. Way. _He thought, unsure of how to feel. The first thing was anger - what was Hermione thinking? Remus? They had known Remus in their time - what if this changed something about his fate? At least Emmeline hadn't been as big a part of their lives! The second thing was, as fate would have it, jealousy. He wished he could just say 'congrats you two nerds deserve each other' and move on, but it wasn't that simple.

"Fred?" Emmeline said quietly. "We might have a problem."

"Understatement of the year, Em." Fred said out of the corner of his mouth, his eyes not leaving Hermione and Remus, and more importantly, their clasped hands.

_Bloody hell. _

* * *

A/N: Two updates in one night? I finished _How to Seduce Hermione Granger _about two/three hours ago, and now I've updated _Diamond in the Rough_? Sweet! -proudface-

But anyway...who else is excited for the drama that's taking form here? I mean, I know what'll happen, cause it's my story, but writing it is still exciting and so much fun! :D

Hope you guys enjoyed, please review!

-Charmy


	10. Flirting With Disaster

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

* * *

Chapter 10: Flirting With Disaster

The Hogwarts Library was a great place for learning, researching, and studying. Quiet and reclusive, any student at Hogwarts was welcome to search through the well worn and informative stacks of books available for borrowing.

It was also, in the case of Emmeline Vance and Fred Weasley, a great place for scheming.

"So, Hermione and Remus are together now." Emmeline said contemplatively, leaning her head in her clasped hands. "Seems a bit...random."

"Not really." Fred replied glumly. "I mean, they're both bookworms."

"Bookworms? That's hardly a romance connection." Emmeline said dismissively. She noted how upset Fred looked - like a kicked puppy. It was almost cute, if it wasn't so sad. She felt for him - Remus's new relationship really upset her, but she was managing not to show it. "Still. I don't think that there's a hidden passion or fancy between Remus and Hermione. I think it's something else."

"Like?" Fred asked, raising his head and giving her a look. He didn't give her a chance to answer. "They spend a lot of time in the library together, and since Remus is so quiet and Hermione's been avoiding us, maybe they have been dating and none of us knew it."

Despite how logical he made it sound, Fred really hoped he was wrong.

"I don't know. I think we should figure this out before continuing with our main plan."

"Figure what out?"

"The whole Remus and Hermione relationship! Where did it come from, how did they get together? We need to know these things!"

"Why?" Fred hung his head again. "Why does it matter? As long as he makes her happy, that's all I care about."

Emmeline paused.

"Wow. You really do love her."

Fred smiled bitterly.

"Yeah, all the bloody good it does me. Every time I think I finally have a chance with her...she's gone again."

"Do you mean Ron?" Fred whirled, panicked. What did she know? How did she know? Had Hermione revealed the truth? No, surely not...

"I just know that she was with your brother. Who I haven't met yet - what house is he in?"

"No! He's-er-" Fred coughed. "At-erm..." he struggled for something to say. "Durmstrang." He avoided her inquisitive look.

"You're a man of many secrets." Emmeline said, leaned back on the heels of her feet. "But that's okay."

Fred sighed in relief, feeling as though he had dodged a killing curse.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another part of the library, a familiar bookworm had fallen asleep on an open book, her exhaustion, both emotional and physical, taking over as she tried to navigate the ancient text before her.

Her eyes twitched as she slept, indicating that she was dreaming. The smile testified to a good dream.

_"Mummy!" A little girl, probably about six, was running toward her. Curly copper hair fell down her back, her brown eyes bright with excitement. She wore a simple white dress and no shoes. "Mummy, stop him!" _

_Another figure was chasing after the little girl, and Hermione's instincts told her to grab the girl and shove her behind her back, creating a human shield between the child and the threat. _

_It was after she had done this that she realized the chasing man was no threat._

_It was Fred. _

_"I'm the tickle monster!" he yelled, and the little girl squealed in fright, her hands hiding a giggly smile. "I tickle little girls when they don't listen to their daddies!" _

_This little girl, obviously her daughter, was beautiful. She and Fred were...married?_

_That made her stop short, and she looked at her little girl. How was she even possible? She knew how babies were made, she wasn't daft, but how could it happen? She and Fred were barely on speaking terms..._

_"Hermione!" She looked around for the voice that was calling her, and felt someone shaking her. Fred and their daughter disappeared..._

Hermione moaned, her eyes opening slowly. She sat up and discovered it was Fred who had found her. Startled, she started shoving her books into her bag, determined not to talk to him, especially now that she was confused over that dream.

"Oh no, don't even try it." Fred grabbed her arm, pulling her into an embrace that made her face flare up. "You're talking to me, even if I have to force the answers out of you."

From behind a bookshelf, Emmeline smiled and walked away. She and Fred had decided that they best way to get answers out of Hermione and Remus was to question them individually.

"Force what answers?" Hermione demanded, discreetly searching for her wand.

"Well," he put his chin on her shoulder. "How did you and Remus get together?"

Too distracted by the feeling of his breath on her cheek and neck, she mumbled some nonsense she hoped was believable.

"We just...thought we'd give it a go. He was a good friend, a person I felt I could trust. So why wouldn't I try dating him?"

"Because you're not from this time, Hermione." Fred said, picking his head up but still keeping his arms around her waist. "And there's someone who's from your time, waiting for you."

"Please. If you're trying to set me up with Ron, then you have a strange way of going about it-"

"Not Ronniekins." Fred turned her in his arms, a smile on his face despite the rapid beating of his heart. "Me."

* * *

"Remus!" Emmeline sang, plopping down beside him in the Gryffindor common room. The lycanthrope jerked out of his studying and looked at Emmeline as though he had never seen her before. When he realized what was going on, he relaxed and put his book down.

"Can I help you, Emmeline?"

"I was just curious about something."

"What's that?"

"How did you and Hermione get together?"

Remus's eyes went wide in panic. How was he supposed to answer that question? Hermione had begged him to pretend to date to get Fred jealous? Emmeline would just run off to Fred and tell him the whole thing, and while he wanted Hermione and Fred to be happy together, he didn't want anyone hurt in the process.

"We just...decided that we would give it a try." Remus answered, turning his head away from her curious eyes. "You know, test the waters."

"I was hoping for a passionate declaration of love and devotion, but that works too, I guess." Emmeline sat back in the couch, pouting. Remus turned back to his homework. It took a few moments, but Emmeline was excited about something again. "I just had an amazing idea!" she cheered. Remus looked at her again, perplexed. "Why don't you go on a double date with Fred and I?"

"I'm sorry?" Emmeline rolled her eyes impatiently.

"You." she pointed at him. "And Hermione." she gestured loosely. "go on a date." she made a heart shape with her hands. "With Fred and I." she pointed to herself for emphasis.

"...Oh." Remus said, unsure of how to reply. He felt immensely awkward, something he really did not like in the slightest. "I guess that's fine."

Emmeline grinned and stood up. "Great! Hogsmeade on Saturday it is, then."

She disappeared up the stairs, leaving Remus feeling as though he had just made a deal with the devil.

* * *

"You?" Hermione asked, pulling away from Fred's grasp.

"Me."

"I don't understand." Hermione's blush contradicted her, but her brain needed answers. "You fancy me?"

"Too shocked at having your wildest dreams come true?" Fred replied with a smirk. Remembering the dream she'd just had, Hermione took a few steps back, hitting the table as she did. "But all jokes aside." He closed the gap between them. "I do."

"Y-You can't be serious." Hermione breathed out, peering at him. "There's no way - it's just another prank." she muttered something under her breath and tripped over her own feet as she attempted to free herself from his penetrating, heated gaze.

"Not everything I say is a joke, Hermione." Fred told her, noting with interest how nervous she was acting. If she was really secure in her relationship with Remus, then she wouldn't be behaving this way.

"Well this obviously is, so I'd appreciate it if you got to the punch line already." she said. "Besides, I'm with Remus now, so-"

"Speaking of which," Fred interrupted. "What are you thinking? We knew Remus in our time - what if we change something?"

"I doubt they'll even remember we were here." Hermione said, gesturing to the still open book on the table. "Based on what I've read, once we find the Stone of Reddo and we use it to go back to the present, then everyone who knew us here will wake up the next day and have no idea we were here at all. They may have indistinct, blurry memories of us, but nothing that definitively states we came back here."

Fred's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked at the information.

"How can you read this? It's all written in strange shapes!"

"It's called Ancient Runes, Fred." Hermione smiled lightly, standing next to him, if only to feel his warmth. She pointed to a word that had a bunch of curved letters. "That says stone." Fred watched her movements, amazed by her intelligence and dedication. "That says return." Her hand moved over and brushed against Fred's, and sparks shot up her arm. She stopped, and Fred covered her hand with his, putting his other arm around her waist. They leaned closer, close enough that their noses touched, when Hermione stepped back. She shook her head, grabbed her bag, and left without a word.

Fred cursed.

Loudly.

* * *

When Hermione returned to the Common Room, Remus was pacing in front of the fireplace. He was usually quite calm, but now he looked very disheveled.

"Hermione." he greeted. "We might have a problem."

"Problem?" Hermione asked, sitting down in the scarlet red chair.

"Emmeline has decided that we're going to go on a double date with her and Fred this weekend."

"She decided this? She can't-" Hermione stopped. Actually, she could, she would, and she apparently did.

"I know." Remus ran a hand through his sandy brown hair. He was pale and his skin was sallow, making him look much older than he really was. Hermione knew it was close to the full moon, and she felt terrible that he was wrapped up in her drama along with his own problems. She felt overwhelmed by gratitude in that moment, and kissed him on the cheek.

It was also in that moment that Fred returned to the Common Room.

* * *

A/N: I'm just gonna walk away now...

Sorry about the wait, please review! -yell becomes faded as I run from the angry readers-

-Charmy


	11. Losing All Control

Diamond in the Rough

By: TheFifthCharmedOne

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Summary: "So let me get this straight. You stole a magic jewel from an Egyptian pyramid, didn't read anything about it, and now we're stuck in 1977?" Hermione asked. "Sounds about right." Fred nodded. "And here I thought I'd have a normal life after the war." She sighed. "Just great."

-X-X-X-

Chapter 11: Losing All Control

"I've got it." Sirius sat up, his eyes going wide. "I figured out why Marlene pretends to hate me!"

"O-Oh?" Peter stammered.

"She fancies me, the devious little wench! She's just been hiding it after...well..." he stopped, shame casting his features. "I've got to talk to her!" He jumped to his feet. "Wormy, cover me. If Prongs or Moony ask, I'm in detention."

"Got it." Peter replied, turning back to his reading, even though he didn't understand a word of it.

Sirius dashed out of the room, nearly ramming straight into James.

"Where's Padfoot off too?" he asked.

"Detention." Peter replied without looking up.

A confused look crossed James's features, but he shook it off and sat down on his bed, cracking his Transfiguration textbook so he could work on the essay due the next morning.

* * *

Before he got out of the stairwell, Sirius pulled the Marauder's Map from his pocket.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." he whispered, tapping the parchment with his wand. Hogwarts appeared before him, and he quickly found the pair of footsteps he was looking for. Marlene was out by the lake, alone.

Sirius closed the map and took the stairs two at a time. They needed to talk.

When he got outside, it had begun to drizzle. The skies were a dark grey, and the wind picked up the closer he got to Marlene.

"Marlene!" he howled over the approaching storm. "Marlene!" he put his hand on her shoulder, and she didn't even turn her head. "I'm so sorry." he ducked his head down. "I was such a git to you, and you didn't deserve it."

"You're damn right I didn't!" Lightning cracked as she whirled her head around, and Sirius noticed that tears were streaming down her face. "You stole something precious from me! I may have wanted it but that doesn't mean you get to just brush it off like it was nothing!"

"I'm sorry!" Marlene scoffed.

"Sure you are." she said bitterly. "Now. But in a few months or so, when another bint crosses your path wearing a skirt that's just a little under the legal limit, you'll be back to your same tricks. You never change."

"Maybe I would...if you would give me the chance."

She whirled to face him, and he grabbed the back of her head, forcing their lips together in a hot and messy kiss.

* * *

Fred didn't know what was worse - seeing the girl he loved kissing another bloke, or the fact that the bloke was his friend. It didn't matter whether it was on the cheek or on the lips, there still had to be some emotion there.

It took everything in him to walk away.

"Hermione." Remus said quietly, and the bushy-haired girl ducked her head. "He loves you."

"He doesn't." she shook her head. "I mean, how could he? I'm nothing like the girls he's dated before, I'm not..." she sighed and yanked a hand through her mangy locks. "Pretty enough."

Fred stopped where he was walking on the stairs. Is that really what she thought? That she wasn't pretty enough for him? Did she think he was that shallow?

_Hell no. _He turned around and went back down the stairs. Anger flared inside him and he confronted the couple.

"Is that really what you think?" Remus and Hermione jumped and looked up to face Fred, who seemed more livid than Hermione had ever seen him. "Merlin's sweaty ballsack, Hermione! I told you I love you and you still think that of me?!" Remus took this moment to leave, and Hermione stared at Fred.

"You...you weren't supposed to hear that. I was talking to Remus - in-in confidence!"

"Lot of bloody confidence in the common room!" Fred raged. "How could you think that I'm that shallow, that easily pleased?"

"History speaks for itself." Hermione replied, referencing his girlfriends in the future, namely, Angelina Johnson, who was a friend of the family now but anyone could see she still fancied Fred.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Fred knew he was going into dangerous territory - if he spoke much more, his foot would be so far into his mouth that he'd be making Ron jealous.

"It means that I can't love you until I feel like I trust you!" She was talking about the need to love each other for the stone to show itself, but Fred interpreted it in an entirely different way. To him, she was saying that she couldn't love him at all, because if she didn't trust him by now, she never would.

"You don't trust me?" His anger vanished, and he suddenly felt like the wind had been knocked out of him.

"I didn't say that." Hermione struggled to say the right thing. "I...It's complicated."

"What's complicated?" Fred approached her, and her breath caught. He brought his hand up to the side of her face, and Hermione was acutely aware of how alone they were in the common room. It was as though every Gryffindor had decided to be somewhere else. "Tell me. What's complicated?"

"Everything!" she pinwheeled her arms, throwing his hand away from her face. "In case it escaped your notice, we're stuck in a time period that is twenty years prior to our own, we have no way to how to get home, we're fighting feelings a-and emotions that weren't there in our time and-"

"Are you sure they weren't there?" he said quietly. "Or just never noticed?"

"I-" she paused. In their time, it had always been a guarantee that she would be with Ron. The girl of the group had to end up with her best friend, right? Since she had no romantic interest in Harry whatsoever, it had to be Ron. Ron made sense, and even though she had only loved him in theory, she would have learned to love him for real because she knew it was the way it was supposed to be.

"I'll give you some time to think, but I'm not giving up." he told her, and he walked away, disappearing up the stairs. Hermione ran a hand through her hair and sat down on the sofa, covering her face with her hands. How could this have happened? Had Fred been hiding feelings for her, all this time, and never said it to anyone? Was he trying to be a good brother, and help Ron get the girl?

Hermione sat back. She thought about everything - from the time she met Ron and Harry, and by extension the Weasley family, until now, when she was faced with one of the worst conundrums she had ever encountered.

Love.

* * *

"So, what are we going to do about the Mudblood?" James stiffened as he made his rounds through the dungeons. He slipped behind a corner and saw that a group of five seventh-year Slytherins were making their way around the bend by the light of one's wand.

"I just know that the Dark Lord wants her dead, and everyone who associates with her."

"So, Potter, too?" one asked eagerly.

"Yes. He's a blood traitor, he doesn't deserve to live."

James had heard enough. They were plotting to hurt Lily, himself, and possibly his friends. He couldn't let that happen.

"Excuse me gentlemen," James walked out of his hiding place. "I believe that plotting against other students is against school rules, and I'm going to have to remove fifty points from Slytherin for it."

"Potter!" they hissed, and James cautiously grabbed his wand.

"You have no proof we plotted against anyone." one said, and James recognized him as Macnair. "Other than what you think you heard."

"I know what I heard, you sniveling bastards." James growled. "Don't think I won't go to Dumbledore about it either."

"The stag is a rat, how cute." James noticed Severus Snape approaching the group, and a new wave of loathing left his body. This prat had made Lily cry - and he was defending the ones who dared call her that name!

"I'm Head Boy, I have the authority to do whatever I want." James said.

"Are we supposed to be scared of this big-headed Head Boy?" one snickered. "It's no wonder your pathetic attempts to woo the Mudblood haven't worked - you're too arrogant to see past your own misgivings."

"Shut up." James growled, his grip on his wand tightening.

"Make us." they spoke as a collective, and with Snape there, it was six against one.

"James!" Lily's voice said, and he whirled. A Slytherin fired a curse at his back, and he fell to her feet. "No!"

"His proper place is at your feet, isn't it, Mudblood? That's where he spends his time anyway."

"Shut up!" Lily cried, not even looking at Snape. She knelt beside James, who groaned. She saw his back was bleeding rather profusely, and rage filled her to the brim. "You bastards." she swore, taking out her wand. "Sixty points from Slytherin for cursing another student!"

"You think we care about point deductions or detentions?" they crowed. "It'll all be meaningless once we leave this pathetic school for greater things."

"You mean serving Voldemort?" Lily snarled. "Which is exactly what you'll be doing - he probably told you you'd be by his side, a trusted member of his cult - which is wrong. You'll be a lowly servant, no matter what your blood status is."

"You don't know anything."

"Oh yeah?" Lily fired a hex, which threw one of them to the ground. And another, which threw Macnair against the wall. She hexed and cursed all of them, until she came to Snape. With a withering glare, she cursed at him too, though he deflected the less-powerful spell. He disappeared, and Lily knelt beside James once again.

"Come on, James. We've got to get you to the hospital wing." She tried to help him get up but he was heavier than she could lift.

"Lily? James!" Sirius appeared, and immediately helped Lily get James to his feet. "Prongs, what happened to you?"

"Slytherins." he said. "Could have used your help a bit earlier, Padfoot." he coughed weakly, the bleeding in his back getting worse. "Lily took care of all six of them."

"You did?" Sirius addressed Lily, who was watching James with frightened eyes.

"I did what I had to do. If I get a detention, it'd be worth it."

"Who are you and what have you done with Lily Evans?" If James weren't between them, Lily would have smacked him for that comment.

"Come on. We have to get him to Madam Pomfrey."

* * *

It is never advisable to wake someone at eleven o'clock at night, especially not the Head Nurse. However, when she saw James's condition, she was willing to make an exception.

"How did this happen?" she wanted to know, levitating James's weak body to a nearby bed.

"Fight with Slytherins, Madam Pomfrey." Lily replied. "We need to go to Dumbledore about this."

"No need. I'm already here." A soft, wizened voice spoke from the doorway. Professor McGonagall stood beside him, a stern look on her face. "Miss Evans, it is my understanding that you dueled six Slytherins in the halls, even though it is expressly forbidden?"

Lily's head fell in shame. Sirius leapt to her defense.

"No disrespect, Professor Dumbledore, but Lily was defending James - because as you can see, he was cursed - and it was either fight or join him and wait for someone to find them."

Dumbledore seemed to take this into consideration.

"What do you believe is the proper course of action, Minerva?" he said to the Gryffindor Head of House.

"Normally it would be point reduction and detention," she replied crisply, and Lily's head went down further. "However, considering the abnormality of the situation, I'm willing to be lenient. Twenty points from Gryffindor for the dueling, however you won't be punished too severely because you were defending another student."

"I removed points from the Slytherins as well, and I'm sure James did too."

"How many did you remove?"

"Sixty."

"Do you know about Mr. Potter?"

"No." Lily looked back at the boy on the bed. Madam Pomfrey had removed his shirt and was putting dittany root in the gash in the center of his spine. "They cursed him when I got there, so I didn't hear what happened before then."

"I'll have a conversation with Horace and see what can be done." McGonagall said, and Dumbledore nodded. "In the meantime, you two should return to your dormitory. You've done all that you can for now, leave him in Madam Pomfrey's capable hands."

"But..." Lily but her lip. She didn't want to leave him.

"I understand you care for him, Miss Evans, but there is nothing you can do now. Return to Gryffindor Tower at once."

"All right," she agreed, and she and Sirius left the hospital wing.

* * *

"So, did anything happen between you and Marlene?"

"I think so. I talked to her earlier, and-" Sirius stopped. "Why do you want to know?"

"She's my friend, Sirius." Lily replied with an eyeroll. "I'm not going to run to Emmeline about it." Sirius's tense shoulders relaxed.

"I know, it's just that the attack on Prongs-" Lily visibly deflated and sat down on the sixth floor landing. The staircase they had just been traversing moved to another landing before she spoke. "I guess I'm just on edge."

"It's actually real, isn't it?" she bit her lip. "The war."

"Yeah." Sirius sat down beside her. "What you did - to protect James - was bloody brilliant, by the way."

"Like I said, I did what I had too."

"It was still brilliant. You took on six Slytherins without even blinking. That takes some real Gryffindor courage."

"Well, I had to have some, didn't I?" she asked with a light chuckle. "Do you think he'll be all right?"

"Prongs?" Lily nodded. "Yeah - we've been in tougher scrapes before."

"Do I even want to know?" Sirius shook his head. "I thought not." she stood. "We should go to bed, before McGonagall catches us."

"For once, you and I agree, Evans." Sirius winked. They continued up the stairs to the Gryffindor dormitory, where Sirius told the Fat Lady the password, and Lily went to the Head Dorm.

* * *

When Lily arrived in the common area, she saw that James's Quidditch robe was draped over the back of the scarlet red sofa. She sighed - how many times had she asked him to keep his things in his room?

She was all set to take it and put it where it belonged when it occurred to her that this was James's. It belonged to him - it was probably one of his most prized possessions.

She cautiously raised it to her face - it even smelled like him. Spicy, earthy, and just that intoxicating scent of boy that made her knees weak.

Unsure of what possessed her to do so, she slid the smooth, airy fabric over her shoulders. Smiling to herself, she felt that it brought her closer to James while he was recovering.

* * *

"Why in the seven hells didn't you tell me?!" Marlene demanded of Lily the next morning.

"It happened right at midnight!" she defended. "I wasn't going to wake you up just to worry you!"

"It wouldn't have mattered! He's practically family, Lily!"

"Don't put too much blame on her, none of us knew." Hermione stepped in, acting as the mediator. Marlene sighed.

"Fine then." she looked at Sirius, and he grinned hesitantly at her. "You're coming with me."

"I was going to go anyway." he stood, but not before grabbing a piece of toast. "Lead the way."

Before noon, the entire school knew about what had happened to James. Admirers lined up the door to the hospital wing, and when Lily got there after class, she scoffed at the way the hopeful girls crowded around the door.

"I'm not waiting in line to see my fellow Head." Lily ignored the disgruntled cries of her female classmates and entered the hospital wing. James was awake and sitting up, and his face brightened when he saw her.

"You've got a line of admirers a mile long." she told him, and he shook his head.

"Is that jealousy I hear, Lily?" he teased.

"No. Disdain at the pathetic girls out there who have nothing better to do than worship the ground you walk on."

"Typical Lily," he smiled. Her stomach turned, and she felt vaguely faint. His smile disappeared, and Lily looked down awkwardly. "I know what you did." For a split second, she thought he knew about his Quidditch robe, but then dismissed it as ludicrous. "You saved me from those bastard Slytherins."

Oh. That.

"I don't know why everyone thinks it was so incredible." Lily shrugged. "I was defending my fellow Head, fellow Gryffindor, and someone I might consider a friend."

"Is that we are then? Friends?" he tested the word, as though it were new to him.

"That's what you told Zonko." Lily remembered.

"True." James agreed. "But, as you know, I've always wanted more." _Here we go. _She thought in irritation. "I'm leaving it up to you. You can decide whether you want me as your friend or...something more. I'm not going to chase you anymore - I'll save the chasing for Quidditch."

Moistening her lips, she nodded. "Good."

Feeling that she had nothing more to add to the conversation, Lily left, continuing to ignore the girls outside the hospital wing.

* * *

When Lily returned to her dormitory, James's robe was draped on her bed, right where she'd left it that morning. It was slightly wrinkled - she had slept in it, after all - but you could see the number seven and his name clearly.

Gnawing on her lips, she slid the robe on again, knowing it was wrong, but unable to stop herself. Wearing James's clothes made her feel safe, warm, and protected. She laid back on her bed and stared out of the window. The panes were still wet from the recent storm, but outside it was clear. Perfect Quidditch weather, if not a little chilly.

_"I'm leaving it up to you." _Those words hung in the air, in her mind, and especially in her heart. For the first time, he was really giving her a choice about where their relationship could or would go. Sure, they had become closer over the course of the year, but he'd never left their position so open-ended. It always had a start (usually with a pick-up line) and an end (always a rejection). Now, though, it was really her call.

If she were being completely honest with herself, she'd say that she rather liked the idea of being in a relationship with James. He had proven himself more than once to be a devoted, strong friend, a sweet, kind person with a little bit of an edge, and all around a great guy. Perhaps Marlene had been right all those times. Lily wished she had listened.

* * *

"Lily! Lily! You've got to come to the hospital wing!" Emmeline grabbed Lily's arm and dragged her toward the Grand Staircase.

"Why? Emmy, what's going on?"

"Just come!" Emmeline's eyes were wide and scared. They ran up the stairs.

When they got there, they found Fred, Hermione, Sirius, Marlene, and Remus all a somewhat safe distance from James's bed. James was holding a piece of parchment that looked official. His eyes were wide from shock.

Lily wanted to ask what was happening, but she feared breaking the tense silence.

"My parents..." James said hoarsely. "They're dead."

* * *

A/N: And there is your chapter, folks! Now, before you kill me, I have a lot more planned for the next few chapters! Based on my ideas, the story will probably have about 18-20 chapters. I'll have to see what drama I can add next.

Hope you enjoyed! Please review!

-Charmy


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